First Gen Corp. said Wednesday it will push through with its liquefied natural gas project despite a 12-percent decline in recurring net income attributable to equity holders to P9.6 billion ($190 million) in the first nine months from P11.3 billion ($217 million) in the same period last year.
First Gen’s net income attributable to equity holders reached P9.9 billion ($196 million), down by 11 percent from the 2019 earnings of P11.5 billion ($220 million), on lower electricity sales across all platforms, partially offset by lower interest expenses.
“The growth in power demand understandably did not materialize and it affected power prices. We did see a recovery in power demand this 3rd quarter as conditions eased and we expect this positive trend to continue as the economy slowly recovers from the effects of the lockdowns,” First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said in a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Consolidated revenues from the sale of electricity in the first nine months declined by 16 percent to P68.6 billion ($1.363 billion) from P84.2 billion ($1.616 billion) in 2019.
The natural gas portfolio accounted for 60 percent of First Gen’s total consolidated revenues. Natural gas revenues went down by 19 percent because of lower average natural gas prices and the decline in the plants’ dispatch.
Energy Development Corp.’s geothermal, wind and solar revenues accounted for P25.4 billion ($505 million), lower than the P28.5 billion ($547 million) it generated a year ago, because of the lower prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
First Gen Hydro Power Corp., owner of the 132-MW Pantabangan-Masiway hydro power plants, saw revenues decline 31 percent to P1.3 billion ($26 million) from a year ago.
First Gen’s natural gas platform posted an 11-percent decline in recurring earnings in the nine-month period following planned outages and the lower dispatch of the 420-megawatt (MW) San Gabriel and 100-MW Avion natural gas-fired power plants.