Manila Electric Co., the biggest electricity retailer, will meet its profit guidance for 2016 amid strong demand, its chairman said Tuesday.
“We will meet the guidance for 2016. Overall demand bill volume was slightly above 8 percent for the entire year,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan said the company’s profit guidance for 2016 was over P19 billion, declining to cite exact figures. The company is set to release its financial results next week.
Meralco in October last year expressed confidence in achieving a consolidated core net income of P19 billion, up slightly from P18.9 billion in 2015.
Meralco reported an unaudited consolidated core net income of P15 billion in the first nine months of 2016, down 5 percent from P15.8 billion year-on-year.
Meralco officials also said earlier volume sales growth reached 8.1 percent 2016.
“8.1 percent growth for the end of the year in sales for Meralco DU (distribution utility). It’s going to be roughly about 39,600 gigawatt-hours,” Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services, corporate marketing and communications Al Panlilio said.
Panlilio said adding unit Clark Electric Distribution Corp. would add roughly about 500 gigawattt-hours “so it will exceed the 40,000 gWh, consolidated.”
“I think that is the first time we are breaching 40,000. That’s the estimate. Last year growth was less than 6 percent,” he said.
He said power demand was fueled by the growth of the commercial sector.
“We have Tiger Okada who is coming up (with) soft launch this year but that should ramp up by next year,” Panlilio said.
Meralco to date has 6.1 million customers.
“Business remains challenging, yet exciting as we see electricity helping transform dreams into reality. Even as we expect the challenges from disruptive new energy sources, energy efficiency technology and innovation, more severe weather patterns, in addition to continuing policy and regulatory shifts to continue, we remain confident of our ability to deliver on our commitments to superior customer experience and a consolidated core net income for 2016 of P19 billion,” Pangilinan said earlier.
The Energy Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, will decide on the petition of Meralco to stagger the power retailer’s P0.92 per kilowatt-hour rate increase as a result of the Malampaya maintenance shutdown.
“We will decide before March 3,” ERC Chairman Jose Vicente Salazar said.
Meralco asked ERC to approve the staggered rate increase, starting with P0.30 per kWh in March, followed by another P0.30 per kWh in April and the balance of P0.32 per kWh in May to mitigate the impact to consumers.
“We know the urgency of Meralco’s application and we are already reviewing it,” Salazar said.
Meralco bills its customers usually during the first week of the month.
Meralco said in an application with the ERC the Malampaya shutdown on Jan. 28 to Feb.16 forced natural gas power plants to use the more expensive liquid fuel.