MANILA, Philippines?First Philippine Holdings Corp., the Lopezes' holding firm for power-related businesses, chalked up P7.85 billion in net profits for the first nine months compared to only P156 million a year ago mainly due to the one-time gain from the sale of a substantial stake in power retailer Manila Electric Co.

But even excluding the non-recurring gain, FPH posted a core net income of P615 million, nearly four times better than the bottom-line profit of P156 million from January to September last year, First Holdings President and COO Elpidio Ibañez said Monday.

"Our strategic efforts to pare down debt at the holding company level and strengthen our balance sheet have so far yielded strong results. Moving forward, the proceeds of the sale will provide us with excellent opportunities to further create value for our shareholders," Ibañez said.

A 20 percent stake in Meralco was sold by the Lopezes last July to Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. for about P20 billion, out of which FPH booked a one-time gain of P7.2 billion, the official said.

Aided by proceeds from the sale, FPH's loans payable fell by 99 percent, or P22.4 billion, to P270 million. The dramatic decline was due to the full settlement of a bridge loan by flagship First Gen Corp. and the de-consolidation of geothermal power unit Energy Development Corp., a controlling stake which was previously acquired from government bidding.

The small balance of P270 million in loans payable pertains to short-term loans of First Philippine Electric Corp. and First Electro Dynamics Corp.

Consolidated revenues amounted to P43.5 billion during the period, down by six percent compared to 2008, Ibañez said. This was due to lower electricity sales resulting from lower average gas prices and reduced dispatch of the power plants owned by power generation unit First Gen.

Correspondingly, consolidated costs and expenses went down by eight percent to P35.1 billion, he said.

Finance costs of P5.3 billion went up by 17 percent compared to last year mainly due to the $544-million refinancing of First Gas Power Corp. (FGPC) and a P5.4 billion corporate notes issuance of Unified Holdings Corp. (UHC), both of which are operating units under First Gen.

Other income declined by 80 percent to P127 million due mainly to mark-to-market gains on derivative transactions recorded by First Gen in 2008, the executive added.

Partly as a result of the sale of most of its stake in Meralco, FPH's assets declined by 36 percent to P144.48 billion by end of September, from the 2008 year-end level.