First Gen logs 30% income hike to P9 B
At A Glance
- The next milestones that will prop the company's earnings will be: the commercial operations of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas; the closing and turnover of the 165-megawatt Casecnan hydroelectric power plant that it recently won from the privatization process carried out by state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM); and its 100MW pump storage expansion at Lake Aya that will soon be advancing to construction phase.
Owing to profit contribution of its all-renewable energy (RE) subsidiary, First Gen Corporation has posted a 30 percent hike in its recurring net income to $167 million, approximately P9.0 billion, in the first half of the year versus $128 million or P7.0 billion, in the same period last year.
“It was EDC (Energy Development Corporation) that mainly delivered higher earnings as a result of better operating income from higher electricity prices,” the Lopez-led firm said.
In terms of revenues, the company logged $13 million hike to $1.287 billion (P71 billion) within January to June this year versus $1.274 billion (P66 billion) in the same period last year.
“The slightly higher revenues are from elevated natural gas and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices,” the company said.
With its flourishing top and bottom lines, First Gen President and COO Francis Giles B. Puno asserted that “we hope to carry over the good performance of the first half in the next six months.”
He emphasized that the Lopez group is “looking forward to a number of significant milestones that are expected to happen for the remainder of the year.” These include the commercial operations of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas, and the closing and turnover of the 165-megawatt Casecnan hydroelectric power plant that it recently won from the privatization process carried out by state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).
Onward, First Gen will be advancing the construction of its 100MW pump storage expansion at Lake Aya, which will be a valuable reinforcement to its Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric assets in Nueva Ecija.
Within this year’s first half, First Gen reported that its gas portfolio brought in 63-percent of its total consolidated revenues; while 34-percent had been registered by EDC’s geothermal, solar and wind facilities; and the balance of 2.0-percent came from its hydro assets.
Nevertheless, the resulting income of its gas assets declined 5.0-percent to $91 million (P5.0 billion) within this year’s first semester, vis-a-vis $96 million (P5 billion) las year.
The company conveyed that its 1,000 MW Santa Rita and 500 MW San Lorenzo power plants earned lower net income “as their depreciation costs and interest expenses rose;” while the 420MW San Gabriel and 97MW Avion plants logged “better recurring earnings due to the full availability of both plants for the period and lower fuel costs.”
The company further noted that “the geothermal power plants under EDC continued to enjoy higher sales and operating income as they benefited from higher electricity prices,” and it also had “fewer purchases of replacement power due to its higher generation.”
For the 150MW Burgos power facility of EDC, in particular, it was indicated that it was able to
“benefit from a better wind regime” within the financial review period, enabling it to post attributable earnings of $77 million (P4.0 billion).
The company’s hydro plants, on the other,registered recurring earnings of $5.0 million within the six-month period, suffering a decline of 41-percent from $9.0 million in a comparative period last year.