Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor, reported a 14 percent surge in consolidated core net income for the first nine months of the year, driven by robust performance in its power generation businesses that more than offset a slight decline in electricity distribution volumes.

In a briefing, Meralco Senior Vice President and Chief Finance Officer Betty C. Siy-Yap said the company’s core profit rose to ₱40 billion from ₱35.1 billion a year earlier, while net income climbed nine percent to ₱36.8 billion from ₱33.8 billion in the same period last year.

The growth was attributed to the rising contribution from the power generation segment, which grew to ₱14.7 billion and now accounts for 37 percent of the total core income, Siy-Yap sad.

While the traditional distribution utility (DU) business remains the largest earner at 55 percent or ₱21.9 billion, its volume growth was essentially flat.

Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, however, expressed confidence in the company’s outlook, maintaining the full-year core profit guidance of ₱50 billion.

“Based on the growth of our power generation business and the steady performance of our core distribution business in the past nine months, we stay positive that we will achieve our full-year core profit guidance of ₱50 billion,” Pangilinan said.

Consolidated revenues for the period increased five percent to ₱371.8 billion, primarily due to higher pass-through generation and transmission charges, increased power generation revenues from the reserve market, and stronger retail electricity sales volumes. The average retail rate jumped 11 percent to ₱11.63 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as of end-September.

Moreoever, system-wide sales volume across the company’s segments posted a marginal increase to 50,880 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 50,641 GWh in 2024. However, the core DU sales volume was virtually unchanged at 40,719 GWh, slightly lower than the 40,872 GWh recorded a year ago.

Siy-Yap noted that the marginal decrease in DU sales volume was mainly due to extended periods of adverse weather, which dampened demand in the Residential and Commercial segments.

The Commercial segment posted demand held back by factors including “ongoing real estate vacancies, weaker hotel demand due to fewer foreign tourists, and frequent heavy rains that caused class and work suspensions,” she said.

In contrast, Meralco’s power generation subsidiary, MGEN, registered its consolidated core net income contribution soar by 63 percent fueled by earnings from new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) investments and robust revenue gains from participating in the Reserve Market.

MGEN’s diversified portfolio delivered 20,226 GWh of energy, a 75 percent year-on-year jump.

Pangilinan also noted positive regulatory developments, including a recent ruling by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that allows Meralco to undergo a rate reset—a process it has not accessed in a decade.

The rate reset is “essential for us to move forward with major investments on smart grid, network resiliency and system improvement, and cybersecurity,” Pangilinan stated, adding that these investments are necessary to “update and future-proof our operations.”

The company's customer base expanded two percent to 8.2 million year-to-date.