Alsons profit grows on higher power sales

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR), the publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group, reported a 52-percent growth in net income attributable to the parent firm for the January to September period, driven by revenue growth from power generation.

In a disclosure to the Philippne Stock Exchange, ACR reported P363.3 million in net income attributable to the parent firm—that is, excluding minority interests—for the first nine months of 2013 from P239.6 million in the same period last year.

Earnings per share was at P0.058 in the first three quarters of 2013 as against P0.038 for the same period last year.

Consolidated net income (including minority interest) for the period was up 6 percent to P793.1 million from P747 million in the first three quarters of 2012, ACR said.

Revenue from continuing operations grew by 42 percent for the first nine months of 2013 to P2.34 billion from P1.65 billion in the same period last year.

ACR said growth came mainly from the new contributions of the Mapalad Power Corp. (MPC), which began operating in the first half of this year.

MPC is the newly refurbished 98 megawatt (MW) diesel facility in Iligan City that was very recently acquired and rehabilitated with a total capital outlay of P1.3 billion.

ACR’s power generation and power plant management subsidiaries were the biggest contributors to the company’s revenue growth. Energy fees earned by ACR’s Mindanao-based diesel power facilities were up 45 percent in the first nine months of 2013 to P2.31 billion from P1.59 billion in the same period last year.

The company’s operating power geeration facilities are: the Southern Philippines Power Corp.’s (SPPC) 55MW plant in Alabel, Sarangani, the 100MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. plant in Zamboanga City, and the 98MW Mapalad Power Corp. (MPC) plant in Iligan City.

The MPC Iligan diesel plant completed its rehabilitation and reached its full 98MW capacity ahead of schedule last September 2013. All three power facilities have contributed to alleviating the power shortage in Mindanao.

Apart from the diesel power plants, ACR is also developing coal-fired power facilities to help provide a stable source of baseload power for Mindanao and ensure long-term power security for the island.

The facilities are: the 105MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) plant in Zamboanga City and the 210MW Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) plant in Maasim, Sarangani. The first 105MW section of the SEC plant is currently under construction and will begin operating in 2015. ACR owns 75 percent of SEC with 25 percent equity held by Toyota Tsusho Corp.

The Alcantara Group, through its other subsidiaries aside from ACR, is also engaged in aquaculture and agribusiness, property development and services.