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Thursday, March 28, 2024

First Gen’s income rose 45% to $180m in 9 months

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First Gen Corp., a member of the Lopez Group, said Thursday net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company rose 45 percent to $180 million (P9.4 billion) in the first nine months from $124 million (P6.2 billion) year-on-year.

First Gen disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that attributable net income in the first three quarters also increased to $151 million (P7.9 billion), up 50 percent from a year ago.

“We are pleased to report that First Gen’s sizable investment in new capacity with the modern San Gabriel plant started serving the power needs of Meralco’s customers in the third quarter of 2018,” First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said.

“We are happy to report that San Gabriel delivers a low-cost source of electricity to Filipino consumers. Contrary to perception, First Gen is clearly proving the price competitiveness of clean low-carbon natural gas-fired power versus more polluting coal-fired power even at full base load dispatch,”  he said.

The company’s natural gas platform delivered recurring earnings of $140 million (P7.3 billion) from $87 million (P4.4 billion) a year ago.

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First Gen said its newest and most modern plant, the 420-megawatt San Gabriel flexible station, benefited from markedly higher dispatch and revenues as it sold power in the spot market at attractive prices in the first half of 2018. 

The company benefited from lower interest expenses and higher interest income as a result of the First Gen’s deleveraging initiatives. It said savings in interest expense offset unrealized foreign exchange losses and higher deferred taxes.

First Gen’s consolidated revenues from the sale of electricity increased 14 percent to $1.5 billion (P76.2 billion) from $1.3 billion (P64 billion) in the first nine months of 2017. 

The natural gas portfolio accounted for $919 million (P47.9 billion), or 63 percent of First Gen’s total consolidated revenues. Natural gas revenues were 18 percent  higher in the first three quarters mainly due to increased volume sales and prices.

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