The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has reduced its financial obligations last year with plans to further improve its finances this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
In a presentation to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, Irene Besido Garcia, PSALM president and chief executive, said the company’s financial obligations dropped by 40.3 billion at end-December 2020.
Garcia said the reduction was almost four-times over PSALM’s target for last year of P10.18 billion.
PSALM was able to bring down its financial obligations to P381.72 billion from P422.01 billion at end-2019.
In 2020, Garcia said the state-run firm collected P12.89 billion from power sales, and P2.61 billion from overdue or delinquent accounts.
Garcia also said PSALM collected P16.69 billion from the Universal Charge (UC) due from power distribution utilities (DUs) and other electricity suppliers.
All these collections were utilized by PSALM to pay not just its financial obligations, but also all the interest and borrowing costs that matured in 2020 amounting to P12.83 billion, Garcia said.
As to the privatization related activities, Garcia said PSALM collected deferred privatization proceeds totaling P38.66 billion last year and was also able to dispose of real property assets amounting to P51.65 million.
To raise funds from real estate assets not yet scheduled for privatization, Garcia said PSALM entered into short-term lease agreements involving these properties, which generated P29.5 million in additional revenues in 2020.
For 2021, Garcia said PSALM is targeting to reduce its maturing obligations by P24.63 billion and prepay its obligations of P19 billion with the Bureau of the Treasury.
PSALM also aims to collect P10.33 billion in power sales and P359 million in overdue or delinquent accounts in 2021.
It will also strive to maintain its 98-percent collection goal for the UC, and the 100-percent disbursement rate for the UC for missionary electrification and renewable energy development, she said.
This year, Garcia said PSALM will unload real estate assets worth P948.93 million combined and privatize power assets, including the Malaya Thermal Power Plant in Pililla, Rizal.