Manila Electric Co. reported a 21-percent increase in consolidated core net income in the first half to P23.2 billion from P19.2 billion in the same period last year, driven by higher sales volumes of the distribution utility (DU) and increased sales in the second quarter.
Meralco said that of the total CCNI, the distribution business continued to account for the biggest share of 55 percent or P12.8 billion.
Power generation contributed 27 percent or P6.2 billion, while the retail electricity supply (RES) and non-electricity businesses brought in a combined P4.2 billion or 18 percent.
Meralco chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said that due to the power retailer’s strong operational and financial performance in the first half, “we are prepared to upgrade our initial guidance of P40 billion CCNI to P43 billion CCNI for the full year 2024.”
“In terms of dividend, our policy will stay at 50 percent payout of core EPS [earnings per share] with a lookback to assess and determine if warranted by the then circumstances, if such payout can be improved,” Pangilinan said.
The Meralco board, in its meeting Monday, approved interim cash dividends of P10.295 per share payable to shareholders of record as of Aug. 28, 2024, and payable on Sept. 23, 2024. This represents a dividend payout of 50 percent of core EPS, or an implied yield of about 6 percent.
Pangilinan expects Meralco to sustain its robust performance throughout the year with the steady growth trajectory of the economy and vowed to continue to invest in more generation capacity.
Meralco’s consolidated reported net income also rose 26 percent to P22.4 billion from P17.9 billion last year.
Consolidated revenues grew 6 percent to P237.5 billion from P224.8 billion in 2023, mainly due to higher volumes distributed by the DU.
Consolidated DU energy sales volumes in the first half of the year rose to 26,954 gigawatt-hours (gWh) from 24,792 gWh, as volumes of Meralco and Clark Electric Distribution Corp. went up by 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
It said six-month sales volumes got a boost from second-quarter sales which hit a new record – with monthly volumes breaching the 5,000 GWh-level in May, largely driven by the double-digit growth in residential and commercial segments.
The commercial segment had the biggest share of 37 percent in the energy sales mix, while residential and industrial accounted for 36 percent and 26 percent, respectively as of end-June.
Consolidated customer count was at 7.9 million as of end-June, 3 percent more than the 7.7 million reported last year, with sustained efforts to energize new customers.
Meanwhile, Meralco spent P19.9 billion in capital expenditures in the first semester, of which P10 billion was used for the distribution networks projects that included new connections, asset renewals and load growth projects.
The balance was spent on the development of solar projects of MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen), acquisition of additional 475 telecommunication towers, and the construction of build-to-suit (BTS) towers by Miescor Infrastructure Development Corp.
