AboitizPower 1Q profit down 53%

Aboitiz Power Corporation recorded a 53% decline in its core net income for the first quarter of 2022 to Php2.9 billion versus from Php6.2 billion in the same period last year.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, AboitizPower said it was affected by outages following the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in December 2021. 

AboitizPower owns the Visayan Electric Company (VECO), the country’s second largest distribution utility serving Cebu City and nearby cities and towns on mainland Cebu. The company also owns several power plants in the region, including a diesel plant in Cebu City that was tapped to provide emergency power amid massive damage to power systems from Odette.

Other factors leading to the company’s profit decline include planned outages in anticipation of the May 9 elections, liquidated damages for the delay in the construction of the 1,336-megawatt (MW) GNPower Dinginin coal power plant, and business interruption claims for its neighboring 600MW GNPower Mariveles coal plant.

“We expect electricity demand to grow in the coming months due to the resumption of economic activities of many Filipinos, and as this leads to power reserves in the Luzon and Visayas Grids to be squeezed thinner, we at AboitizPower are doing the best we can to prepare for this situation,” AboitizPower President and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said in the disclosure.

AboitizPower’s generation and retail supply business also recorded a slight decrease in its sold capacity for the first quarter of 2022 to 3,534MW from 3,558MW year-on-year. Its distribution business also recorded lower energy sales worth 1,298 gigawatt-hours (GWh) versus 1,308 GWh previously.

In other developments, the company was able to synchronize Dinginin’s 668MW Unit 2 on Saturday, making the power plant “well-positioned to address critical market needs.” 

Back in January, Energy officials said they were expecting the said generator’s testing and commissioning – originally slated for next week – to add 400MW of capacity to the Luzon Grid as the elections draw near.

“It is our intention to keep our generation plants running at an optimal capacity to continuously serve the energy needs of our customers,” Rubio said, adding that VECO would assist in demand-side management in Cebu through the Interruptible Load Program.

AboitizPower has allotted Php 28 billion in capital expenditure this year to expand its renewable energy portfolio and upgrade its existing power facilities.