EDC H1 income falls 21%

Energy Development Corp. (EDC) saw its consolidated recurring net income fall for the first semester by 21 percent year-on-year, settling at P4.1 billion this year from P5.2 billion previously.

The renewable energy company continued to feel the effects of bad weather that hampered its operations in Leyte.

“Our first half results, similar to what we communicated to the market during our [first-quarter] earnings announcement, were largely dominated by the impact of Typhoon “Urduja” (international name: Kai-tak) that hit Leyte island, site of our biggest business unit, in December,” EDC chief financial officer Nestor Vasay said in a statement.

“Leyte’s generation volume was down by 18.5 percent for the first six months [of 2018],” Vasay said.

Last May, EDC vice president Erwin O. Avante said they expected full-year net income to remain at about P8 billion for these same reasons.

“However, we expect this downtrend to reverse in the second half of 2018 as our major power plants in Leyte are now back in service,” Vasay said yesterday. “We also see our operational efficiency initiatives starting to pay off.”

In the first semester, EDC’s revenues grew by 3 percent to P17.1 billion from P17.7 billion in the same period in 2017.

EDC’s other businesses showed higher growth in revenues, with Burgos Wind up 15 percent to P1.66 billion and Bac-Man Geothermal up 10 percent to P2.13 billion.

Earlier this month, EDC’s board of directors approved the voluntary delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange’s main board of the company’s common shares, as well as a tender offer for up to about 2 billion such shares.

The tender offer starts on Sept. 25, for up to 2.04 billion common shares at a price of P7.25 apiece, or a total of about P14.8 billion.

The offer covers common shares held by all shareholders except those held by major stakeholders, including Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., First Gen Corp., Northern Terracotta Power Corp. and Philippines Renewable Energy Holdings Corp.