FirstGen sees record performance in 2019

First Gen Corp. saw its net income in the nine months to September jump 41 percent year-on-year to $303.6 million, fueling anticipation of a record performance for the full year.

The Lopez group firm, which keeps a portfolio of power plants with generating capacities totaling 3,492 megawatts, said in a statement its recurring earnings attributable to equity holders also rose by 21 percent to $217 million.

First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles B. Puno said the company’s thrust of clean, low carbon and renewable power continued to deliver great results.

Renewable energy platform Energy Development Corp. — with its geothermal, wind and solar assets — contributed $67 million or nearly one-third of total recurring earnings, up 27 percent.

This was partly due to the improved performance of EDC’s Leyte and Negros geothermal plants, which had emerged from the damage sustained from the onslaught of Typhoon Urduja in December 2017.

First Gen’s natural gas-fired power plants chipped in $142 million in recurring net income, up 7 percent. Its hydro power business racked up $8 million, up 160 percent.

Consolidated revenue from the sale of electricity rose by 11 percent to $1.6 billion, accounting for 63 percent of total, thanks to higher average natural gas prices as well as improved plant dispatch.