MERALCO records P9.6B income in 1Q

With a strong performance in the first quarter, the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) records a net income of Php 9.60 billion, and is hopeful that its consolidated core net income will surpass Php 40 billion this year.

The net income, which is 19% higher compared to the Php 8.07 billion recorded in 2023, was a result of contributions of the company’s different business units.

“The growth in our first quarter sales volume reflects the growing demand for power from across
all customer segments with the improving economic prospects. In the month of April this year, we already reached record peak demand in the Meralco franchise area, which exceeded 9,000 MW,” said MERALCO executive vice president and chief operating officer Ronnie L. Aperocho.

The average retail rate had increased by4%, from Php 10.41 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2023 to Php 10.78 per kWh, in light of the distribution rate true-up refund’s fulfillment in May 2023, while the consolidated core net income soared by 12% in the first three months, climbing from Php 9.05 billion to Php 10.08 billion.

However, the consolidated revenues took a plunge to Php 104.50 billion from Php 105.60 billion, a result of decreased energy fees and pass-through charges during the interval.

Nonetheless, MERALCO Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan stated that the distribution utility (DU) has thrived in the first quarter and anticipated this success to continue throughout the following three quarters. Furthermore, Pangilinan predicted that the revenues would continue to stabilize for the remainder of the year.

MERALCO also said that it continues to supply cost-efficient energy to consumers through the firm’s units MPower, MGen’s Global Energy Supply Corporation, Clark Electric Cogent, and Vantage Energy and MeridianX, two affiliated retail electricity providers.

MERALCO added that as of the end of March, 1,568 gigawatt hours (GWh) had been delivered by its RES company.

On electricity generation, the DU stated that the earnings of its subsidiary, MGen, was affected by planned maintenance outages of specific affiliates, which caused MGen’s total energy delivered to drop by 11% on an annual basis to 3,229 GWh.