Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) reported a 10-percent increase in its net income due to growth in the distribution utility (DU) business, along with movements in power generation.

In a briefing on Monday, April 28, Meralco said its consolidated core net income (CCNI) during the first three months of 2025 climbed to ₱11.2 billion, while its consolidated reported net income (CRNI) was up by 8.9 percent to ₱10.4 billion.

Its businesses in the DU, power generation, and retail electricity supply (RES) sector pulled up Meralco’s revenues to ₱114.5 billion.

The DU energy sales volume saw a two-percent uptick from 12,307 gigawatt-hours (GWh) to 12,493 GWh, contributing ₱6.7 billion to the net income.

This was primarily driven by Meralco and Clark Electric Distribution Corp.

While the commercial sector of its DU remains to have the highest share at the sales mix at 38 percent, the residential group welcomed new customers, driving consumption growth and contributed an additional 95 GWh during the first quarter, which is a three-percent increase to 4,257 GWh.

Its customers rose to 8.1 million during the January-to-March 2025 period.

On the power generation side, Meralco PowerGen Corp.’s (MGen) units saw a 25-percent jump in contributing to the company’s CCNI.

This was driven by the availability of stable plants, revenue generation from the reserve market, and the Chromite Gas Holdings Inc. during February.

MGen’s net saleable capacity was at 4,953.3 megawatts (MW), encompassing its portfolio in the Philippines and Singapore, resulting in a 5,294-GWh energy delivery.

The power generation arm also secured a $600-million investment from Actis through acquiring a 40-percent stake in the MTerra Solar project, while also closing a ₱150-billion omnibus loan and security agreement (OLSA) with six local banks that would finance ongoing development in the soon-to-rise largest solar and battery storage facility.

MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen) was also able to deliver 174 GWh of clean power on the back of steady plant availability across solar plants, as the company was able to complete its 52.8-MW alternating current (MWac) Cordon plant, 19.8-MWac Bongabon plant in Nueva Ecija, and 80.1-MWac Baras plant in Rizal.

Despite this growth, Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of Meralco, believed there would be a couple of headwinds for the company, describing that “It’s going to be a tough year.”

“Probably [the] early days to get a definitive outlook on the numbers for the full year but our target is to be able to produce double-digit growth in our core income for the year, but low double-digit growth… I think a better position [to estimate the financial progress] might be in the second quarter or first half results,” he said.