ACR expects income jump for 2015

Listed firm Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) of the Alcantara group is aiming for an income jump this year, citing its good performance in the first three months of the year.

“We expect net income to increase to P1.147 billion, a 58-percent increase,” said CFO Luis Ymson during a stockholders’ meeting of the company.

Ymson said expanded power generation capacity and increased efficiencies would drive the income growth.

ACR reported a 13.4-percent increase in net income to P213.7 million in the first quarter of 2015 from the P188.4 million reported in the same period last year.

Revenue for the first quarter rose by 5.9 percent to P1.201 billion from last year’s P1.133 billion.

The 103-megawatt (MW) diesel power plant of the Mapalad Power Corp. in Iligan City was the main driver of revenue growth in the first quarter of the year.

Apart from the MPC diesel plant, ACR’s other power generation facilities are the Southern Philippine Power Corp.’s 55-MW plant in Alabel, Sarangani and the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. plant in Zamboanga City.

All three diesel plants have significantly contributed to alleviating the power shortage in Mindanao.

ACR is developing coal-fired plants to provide baseload power for Mindanao and ensure long-term power security for the island.

These facilities are the 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) plant in Zamboanga City and the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) plant in Maasim, Sarangani.

The company is likewise entering the renewable energy sphere with the development of a 15-MW hydroelectric plant along the Siguil River in Sarangani.

According to ACR chair and president Tomas I. Alcantara, the company will focus on its power units even as it expands other businesses.