Following natural calamities that hit Leyte in 2017, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) posted lower earnings in 2017 as its geothermal facility in the area was hit.
The company disclosed that it recorded a recurring net income attributable (RNIA) to equity holders of the parent of P8.8 billion, four percent lower from 2016’s P9.2 billion.
Consolidated revenues also went down by three percent to P33.3 billion.
The drop in revenues was due to the strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Leyte on July 2017, and typhoon Urduja in December 2017 that affected the company’s geothermal facility in the area.
“Our Leyte unit, which generated almost 45 percent of our revenues in 2016, was on track for a record year last year until it got struck by two major calamities,” EDC CFO Nestor Vasay said.
“Despite the initial shock from the earthquake last July and from Urduja last December, our team worked hard to successfully restore much-needed electricity to our countrymen in the Visayas region,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bacman delivered an additional P0.9 billion in revenues due to higher contracted volume, to negate the lower generation volume of the Palinpinon power plant.
“We have been able to fully contract our Bacman and Nasulo power plants, thus reducing our exposure to the spot market. We also bought back close to $90 million of our dollar bonds last year to help reduce our foreign exchange exposure,” Vasay said.
Meanwhile, the company’s Burgos wind farm received a 16 percent jump in energy sold for 2017, its highest since it was commissioned in 2014.
“For 2018, we will continue to manage some of these key risks, and will continue to work on our power plant optimization and other efficiency programs,” Vasay said.
