Acen’s Q2 profit up 25% as local operations rebounded

The Ayala group’s AC Energy Corp. (Acen) saw its second quarter consolidated net income jump by 25 percent to P1.8 billion as its domestic operations returned to profitability while its overseas projects revved up their output.

Second-quarter results significantly improved — albeit not enough to reverse profit decline — in the first semester, with Acen’s net income falling by 19 percent to P2.2 billion.

From April to June alone, Acen’s net income got a boost from fresh contributions from new power generators here and abroad, as well as the easing of transmission restrictions in the Visayas grid.

Acen’s generators in the Visayas were forced to limit the output they delivered in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette in December, damaging transmission facilities. This worsened the “curtailment,” or forced reduction of supply deliveries, that had resulted in a June 2021 incident that damaged a major undersea transmission cable that links the islands of Negros and Cebu.

The company said in a statement improved availability of its power plants also enabled it to harness excess capacity and benefit from strong wholesale electricity prices in the second quarter.

“The Philippine business has returned to profitability as we start to recover from short-term headwinds experienced in the first quarter of the year,” Acen chief financial officer Cora Dizon said.

“With fresh contributions from our newly operational solar and wind farms, Acen continues to reap the returns of its aggressive expansion both within the country and abroad,” Dizon said.

During the first semester, Acen raised by 11 percent to a total of 2,482 gigawatt-hours its attributable output from overseas assets. In particular, wind farms in Vietnam and solar farms in India logged increased operating capacity.

Output from Acen’s overseas power projects surged by 48 percent to 1,268 GWh in the first half.

Consolidated revenue for the January-June period leaped 19 percent to P16 billion as higher spot market prices in the second quarter offset the impact of curtailment and customer buyout fees in the first quarter.

“We’re delighted to see the strong rebound in the second quarter, which helps generate momentum as the company sets out its bold ambition to reach 20 GW of renewables by 2030,” Acen president and chief executive Eric Francia said.

“A significant part of this growth will be in the Philippines, and this is in line with the new government’s focus to aggressively expand the country’s renewables capacity,” Francia added.

Earlier this week, the Acen board of directors approved their corporate strategy of aiming for 20,000 megawatts of attributable renewables capacity by 2030.

Such a goal means expanding their current 3,400-MW portfolio six times. Acen has lined up a pipeline of 18,000 MW of projects that will be built across the region.