MANILA ELECTRIC CO., the country's biggest power distributor, said its unaudited net income for the first nine months of the year rose 41.7 percent to P5.3 billion, despite posting lower revenue.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Meralco said its consolidated revenue dipped by 1.2 percent to P143 billion in the first three quarters due to lower generation and transmission charges.

Its consolidated core net income, however, surged by 66.7 percent to P5.9 billion during the nine-month period from year-ago level of P3.5 billion.

The rise in income was mainly due to the 17.6-percent increase in distribution revenue attributable to the implementation of the PBR (Performance-Based Regulation)-based adjustment starting May 2009, its first distribution rate adjustment after almost five years.

In the first nine months of 2009, Meralco and its subsidiaries paid down principal debts amounting to P10.69 billion and customer refunds under Phase 4B of P1.281 billion or a total outlay of P11.972 billion.

?The company?s debts are mainly denominated in peso and the maturities are well spread out, with most of the debt repayments due in 2013,? Meralco said.

This month, Meralco had refinanced P3 billion worth of maturing debt and continues to explore refinancing opportunities of its remaining debts as its credit standing strengthens and market terms for borrowing improve.

?In addition, the recent ratings upgrade of Meralco to ?B? with positive outlook by Standard & Poor?s should present the company with more opportunities to raise fund for expansion projects,? it added.

Since January 2009, energy sales steadily recovered ending with a growth of 1.1 percent as of end-September.

?The first nine months of 2009 saw growth driven mainly by the residential and commercial sectors, which accounted for 72.3 percent of the total 20,392 gigawatt-hours sold,? the company said.

Energy sold to the industrial sector for the first nine months of 2009 remains to be lower than the volume sold for the same period in 2008.

Sustained remittances, low inflation and electricity prices, and the number of holidays in August and September were the main reasons for the increase in residential sales.

Trade, transport, storage and communication sub-sectors led sales of the commercial sector.