AC Energy Philippines (ACEPH), the energy investment subsidiary of the Ayala group, logged P1.96 billion net income in the initial six months of the year; completely reversing a net loss of P552 million in the same period last year.
The company attributed the upturn in performance to the “successful infusion of AC Energy’s onshore assets and recent acquisitions.”
Specifically, the Ayala firm gained traction on its financial performance following an increase on its authorized capital stock; as well as the issuance of additional primary shares to AC energy – a process that added 176 megawatts (MW) of attributed capacity following an asset-for-share swap.
The company’s financial turnaround in this year’s first half as well as the successful integration of AC Energy’s onshore operations had been considered a euphoric development, with AC Energy President and CEO Eric T. Francia emphasizing “this allows us to make additional near-term investments in the country.”
AC Energy previously announced plans on additional solar farm installations at sites within Luzon grid; as well as the construction of a thermal plant to help address the country’s need for added peaking capacity.
Further, the company noted that its thermal plants had been on higher availability; and income stream had been reinforced by the power supply agreements (PSAs) that it was able to win in the competitive bidding undertaken by power utility giant Manila Electric Company.
AC Energy said the availability of its South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation (SLTEC) plant hovered at a high of 95-percent in this year’s initial six months; while its diesel peaking plants also performed exceptionally with 93-percent availability in the same period.
The power supply contracts cornered by the company with Meralco – comprising of 200MW baseload and 110MW mid-merit capacity secured approvals from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) early this year.
“The increase in contracted capacity offset the reduced volumes and lower spot market prices experienced during the enhanced community quarantine/modified enhanced community quarantine (ECQ/MECQ) period from mid-March,” the company said.
In a related development, the company announced that the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) had already given go-signal for the change of the company’s stock symbol to ACEN from currently ACEPH – and that shall be effective August 14 this year.
“The shift to ACEN signifies the forthcoming integration of AC Energy’s onshore and offshore business into a unified platform,” the Ayala firm stressed.