The equity sell-down on its Salak and Darajat geothermal power assets in Indonesia had propelled profitability upturn for Ayala-led ACEN Corporation in the first three quarters to P6.6 billion, higher by 59-percent from P4.1 billion in a comparative period last year.

In terms of core operating earnings, the company reported income share yielded by its operating units, which had been two times year-on-year “with new operating capacity across the global portfolio and the shift to a net selling merchant position in 2023.”

On the revenue front, ACEN logged 13% hike to P28.6 billion versus P25.24 billion last year “on the back of higher retail customer tariffs and the ramp-up of New England Solar in Australia and Pagudpud wind in the Philippines.”

According to ACEN President and CEO Eric T. Francia, “the company continues its healthy growth trajectory, notwithstanding delays in the major renewable projects.”

By next year, he emphasized that the company is anticipating the kick-off of commercial operations of at least 700-megawatt capacity of solar and wind projects in the Philippines that are coming on stream prior to summer of 2024.

The company reiterated that the income stream from the unloading of its geothermal shares was able to “offset higher overhead and development expenses for the period as ACEN continues to ramp up its renewables expansion in the Philippines and in Australia.”

The Ayala firm’s attributable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), including those from non-consolidated operating projects, had likewise climbed by 21% to P14.1 billion within the January-September stretch.

For the third quarter alone, ACEN stated that its operating earnings had declined versus the previous quarter “with scheduled plant maintenance and expected seasonally low wind and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices with the onset of the rainy season.”

The company qualified though that it opted to sustain its “net merchant selling position with the continued addition of new operating capacity.”

At its Philippine market home base, in particular, ACEN logged 29% increase in its electricity generation to 769 gigawatt-hours with the continued commissioning of its second phase Arayat-Mexico solar farm installation of 44-megawatt capacity; as well as its 160MWPagudpud wind farm project in Ilocos Norte.

For its international portfolio, generation topped 2,405 GWh mainly from its New England solar farm installation in New South Wales, Australia.

It added that the new addition to its output in this year’s third quarter had been the 420 MW Masaya solar farm development in Madhya Pradesh, India; and the first phase of its 287 MW first phase Solar NT acquisition in Vietnam, which is a joint venture with SUPER Energy of Thailand.