DMCI Power profit down 5%

The loss of tax perks continued to push down DMCI Power Corp.’s net income as figures for the first nine months of the year slid by 5 percent year-on-year to P324 million from P341 million in 2016.

In a statement, DPC said the growth in the volume of electricity it sold in January to September was flat because its generators in Mindoro and Palawan saw less action.

DPC said the nine-month volume stayed at 181.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) as customer-distributors bought less power.

Aside from generation plants in Oriental Mindoro and Palawan, DPC also has facilities in Masbate and Sultan Kudarat —all of which run on oil.

Of these, DPC enjoyed income tax holiday (ITH) for the Masbate facility, but the tax perk expired in September 2016.

The company said its sales performance for the first three quarters of 2017—at a marginal growth of 0.2 percent—was offset by a 19-percent increase in average selling price, thanks to higher fuel prices.

Also, the firm reported an 18-percent surge in consolidated revenue for the nine months to September to P2 billion.

It said energy sales to Palawan Electric Cooperative slid by 1 percent to 69.3 GWh while volume sold to Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative fell by 6 percent to 38.4 GWh.

DPC said only its Masbate asset showed growth, as deliveries to Masbate Electric Cooperative grew by 4 percent from 70.8 GWh to 73.7 GWh.

“Despite our flattish sales and ITH expiration, our profitability remains strong,” DPC president Nestor D. Dadivas said in a statement. “Our pretax earnings grew 11 percent year-on-year.”

For the nine months to September, DPC saw its Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose by 18 percent to P554 million from P469 million in the same period last year. —RONNEL W. DOMINGO