Alsons H1 income down on divestment

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR), the publicly listed company of the Alcantara group, saw its net profit drop in the first half of 2014 as it focused on the energy sector.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Alsons said its consolidated net income dropped 11 percent to P421 million from P513.8 million, as last year’s figures still included income from former ACR subsidiary Lima Land Inc.

ACR divested Lima Land in 2013 to shift its focus to power generation, particularly in Mindanao.

“This divestment was, however, offset by the decision to reacquire and operate MPC (Mapalad Power Corp.) which led to a higher net income attributable to the parent for the first half of 2014,” Alsons said.

ACR reported a 23-percent increase in net income attributable to the parent for the first half of 2014, to P215.9 million from P174.9 million in the same period last year.

The income contribution from wholly owned subsidiary MPC was the main driver of the 23-percent increase, ACR said.

MPC is the owner and operator of the 103-megawatt (MW) Iligan diesel power plant, which began operating in May 2013.

Revenues for the first half more than doubled to P2.58 billion from P1.21 billion in the same period last year, coming mainly from the revenue contribution of MPC, ACR said.

Following its divestment of Lima Land Inc., ACR’s power generation subsidiaries are now the main contributors to the company’s revenue growth.

Apart from the 103-MW MPC diesel plant in Iligan City, ACR’s diesel-fired power generation facilities also include Southern Philippines Power Corp.’s (SPPC) 55-MW plant in Alabel, Sarangani and the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) plant in Zamboanga City.

The SPPC and WMPC plants supply power directly to the Mindanao grid via the National Power Corp. (NPC) and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) under an Energy Conversion Agreement (ECA) between the two plants and NPC/PSALM.

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