ACR reports 182% increase in 9-month net

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) reported a 182-percent jump in consolidated net earnings in the first three quarters of 2020, reaching P1.66 billion from P587.7 million in the same period of 2019.

The group’s 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani province, operated by subsidiary Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC), remained as the key driver of revenue.

Built at a cost of $570 million, the SEC facility began operating at full capacity in October 2019 and now provides electricity to key areas in Mindanao including Sarangani, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Dipolog, Dapitan, Pagadian, Samal, Tagum, Kidapawan and Butuan.

“For the rest of the year, we remain cautiously optimistic on the financial performance of the company,” ACR deputy chief financial officer Philip Edward Sagun said in a statement.

“We expect higher revenues and profit margins from the full commercial operations of the [SEC] plant,” Sagun said. “We will also reap the benefits of lower operating costs as we continue to maintain cost efficiency measures.”

In the nine months ending on Sept. 30, ACR’s revenue jumped 57 percent year-on-year to P7.31 billion from P4.67 billion.

Including the SEC complex, ACR’s portfolio consists of four facilities with an aggregate capacity of 468 MW.

The company’s projects in the pipeline include the P4.5-billion, 14.5-MW Siguil Hydro run of river hydroelectric power plant—also in Maasim—and San Ramon Power Inc.’s P16-billion, 105-MW power plant in Zamboanga City.

“ACR’s continuing pursuit of new power projects in Sarangani province, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte and Negros Occidental is our contribution to the economic recovery of our country by helping create new jobs and stimulate the local economies in these areas,” ACR executive vice president Tirso Santillan Jr. said. INQ