Aboitiz Power Corporation, the country’s largest power generator, registered a net income of Php12.6 billion in 2020, 27% lower than the Php17.3 billion recorded in 2019.
Based on its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm also reported that its core net income went down by 25% to Php12.5 billion from Php16.6 billion the year prior. This was primarily due to additional tax expenses following the expiration of the income tax holiday incentives of subsidiaries Therma South, Inc. (TSI) and GN Power Mariveles Energy Center Ltd. Co.
The COVID-19 pandemic particularly affected AboitizPower’s distribution business, as energy sales decreased by eight percent to 5,368 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2020 from 5,851GWh in2019 due to lower power demand.
Capacity sold for last year increased by seven percent to 3,417 megawatts (MW) from 3,184MW in the same period in 2019. This was due to increased contracting levels driven by the new capacity of subsidiary Therma Visayas, Inc. and additional portfolio contracts. The increase in contracting levels, however, was offset by the lower demand brought about by the pandemic and lower water inflows to AboitizPower’s hydro facilities.
For the fourth quarter in particular, the company reported a 44% increase to Php5.6 billion from Php3.9 billion year-on-year.
In a separate disclosure by parent firm Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), AboitizPower’s contribution to AEV’s net income decreased to Php9.7 billion in 2020, also 27% lower compared to the Php13.3 billion recorded the year prior. Power generation particularly contributed 52% to the parent firm’s income.
“2020 was a tough year for all of us and AboitizPower had its share of challenges, but despite the setbacks, we strengthened our organization and improved our operational performance,” AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Rubio said.
“We believe 2021 to be a year of recovery for our country. We head into the new year armed with lessons learned from the ultimate of stress tests experienced during the pandemic. We roll out our ten-year growth strategy that fully supports our country’s economic recovery and sustainability goals,” he continued.
Just recently, AboitizPower subsidiaries Therma Marine, Inc. and SN Aboitiz Power embarked on the installation of their respective battery energy storage system facilities in Mindanao and in Northern Luzon, respectively.
“In 2020, the Aboitiz Group, like all other business organizations in our country, faced not only the unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic but the normal run-of-mill issues that normal times bring. Early adoption of digital transformation allowed us to seamlessly transition work processes from the physical environment to virtual platforms. These initiatives form important elements in improving our ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance through our sustainability programs,” said AEV President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz.
AboitizPower also recently announced that TSI’s 300MW Davao baseload power plant uses data science and artificial intelligence to help it cut on carbon emissions.
