Manila Electric Co. said Monday consolidated core net income grew 10 percent in the first quarter to P5.624 billion from P5.1 billion in the same period last year on the back of increased contribution from power generation business and higher energy sales.
Meralco’s wholly-owned subsidiary Meralco PowerGen Corp. contributed P1.2 billion to Meralco’s income in the first quarter, up from P119.4 million a year ago, driven by the contribution of Singapore-based PacificLight Power Pte. Ltd. MGen had a total power generation capacity of 2,251 megawatts as of end-March.
Reported net income rose 28 percent to P5.564 billion from P4.3 billion a year earlier, with the adjustments made in 2021 on the implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.
“We remain vigilant over global geo-political developments and remain cautious about their impact on the Philippine economies. We are working with industry players, including the government, regulators and our suppliers to agree on ways to mitigate the adverse impact of these challenging circumstances to our customers,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
“The challenges notwithstanding, we remain positive that we shall be able to sustain Meralco’s operational and financial performance in the course of the year, as we bank on the further reopening of the economy, and traverse the road towards post-pandemic recovery,” said Pangilinan.
Consolidated revenues climbed 33 percent to P85.9 billion from P64.7 billion, as electricity revenues also increased 33 percent to P 83.3 billion from P62.5 billion. This was due to higher pass-through charges on account of the unprecedented increase in global fuel prices.
Consolidated energy sales rose 5.7 percent to 11,069 gigawatt-hours from 10,473 gWh in the same three months last year following the easing of pandemic-related restrictions and higher temperature.
The National Capital Region and parts of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon were placed under the least restrictive alert level 1 in March, driving power demand in Luzon.
Meralco’s peak demand in the first quarter reached 7,816 MW, or 10 percent higher than in the previous year.
Residential sales accounted for 35 percent of the sales mix, while commercial and industrial sales accounted for 34 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
The continuing hybrid work arrangements and home-based learning setup and the relatively warmer temperature pushed residential sales volume to grow 5 percent to 3,808 gWh from 3,616 gWh.
Commercial sales volumes also went up to 3,781 gWh from 3,560 gWh amid the increase in economic activities.
Demand in the real estate and education sectors posted growth as schools began hybrid face-to-face classes. Full operation of retail, restaurants and hospitality sectors also contributed to the higher commercial sales volumes.
The growth in industrial sales volumes was sustained, increasing to 3,443 gWh from 3,261 gWh mainly from the semiconductor, cement, food and beverage, plastics and chemical packaging industries.
Consolidated customer count grew 4 percent to 7.46 million at end-March from 7.21 million in the same period last year.
Average retail rate increased 14 percent to P8.89 per kWh from P7.82 per kWh as generation charges, which accounted for about 59 percent of total retail rate, went up 21 percent. .
Meralco spent P6 billion in capital expenditures in the first quarter, of which 70 percent or P4 billion went to networks capex which consisted of new connections, asset renewals, load growth projects, support for the “Build, Build, Build” projects and the Meralco Electrification Program.
Operating expenses went up by 16 percent to P8.2 billion on higher spending of subsidiaries.
