First Gen Hydro Power Corp. (FG Hydro), a subsidiary of First Gen Corp. (First Gen) signed loan agreements with BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) for a total amount of P7 billion.
The loan facilities will be utilized for FG Hydro’s general corporate requirements.
FG Hydro owns and operates the 132-megawatt Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power plant located in Nueva Ecija.
“Hydroelectric plants play a crucial role in our country’s energy security and decarbonization goals. This financing will enhance our capability to offer a competitive portfolio of clean energy to the nation. We are very grateful for the continued trust and support of our partner banks BDO, BPI, and RCBC,” said Emmanuel Singson, First Gen chief financial officer.
The hydro platform’s contribution to First Gen’s recurring earnings was at US$14 million (P800 million) for the first three quarters of 2024.
The Casecnan hydroelectric power plant contributed $12 million (P651 million) of recurring net income for its seven months of operations after its turnover to First Gen.
This offset the lower recurring income of the Pantabangan-Masiway power plants of $3 million (P161 million) from $6 million (P305 million) last year.
The hydro facility had a reduction in the volume of electricity sold due to its low water reservoir levels. It also was affected by lower Wholesale Electricity Spot Market prices but the decline was buffered by its higher contract prices.
Meanwhile, First Gen disclosed to the stock exchange on Friday that its board approved the declaration of cash dividends on the corporation’s common shares in the amount of P0.45 per share with a record date of Dec. 12, 2024 and payment date of Dec. 23, 2024.
The board also approved the declaration of cash dividends on the corporation’s outstanding preferred shares as follows: P0.02 per share on one billion series “B” preferred shares and P0.01 per share on 468,553,892 Series “E” preferred shares, with a record date of Dec. 12, 2024 and payment date of Jan. 6, 2025.
First Gen reported a 17 percent decrease in attributable recurring net income for the first nine months at $205 million (P11.6 billion) from $249 million (P13.8 billion) in 2023.
“We expect this situation to reverse next year, as we see additional baseload renewable energy to come in from our ongoing 40-well drilling program and from the 83MW of additional geothermal plants that we are commissioning currently,” First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said.
First Gen is a leading independent power producer that primarily utilizes clean and indigenous fuels such as natural gas, geothermal energy from steam, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power.
The company has 3,668MW of installed capacity in its portfolio, which approximately accounts for 20 percent of the country’s gross generation. First Gen has set a target to grow to 13,000MW by 2030.
