Alsons Q1 net income up 67%

MANILA  -Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. logged a 67-percent growth in net income in the first quarter of the year thanks to steady power demand recovery in Mindanao.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Monday, Alsons said its profit in January to March rose to P542.27 million from P324 million in the same period last year as its two major power plants delivered strong sales to meet demand in the southernmost part of the country.

“The first quarter of 2023 saw steady power demand from our key markets in Mindanao,” said Alsons deputy chief financial officer Philip Sagun, citing the 210-megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) baseload power plant in Sarangani province and the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) diesel plant in Zamboanga City as the company’s key income drivers.

The SEC plant delivers power to Sarangani, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Dipolog, Dapitan, Pagadian, Samal , Tagum, Kidapawan and Butuan.

WMPC, meanwhile, is the sole power generation facility in Zamboanga Peninsula. It provides crucial ancillary services to National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to stabilize the grid in Western Mindanao.

Revenues of the Alcantara group’s publicly listed firm also grew by a quarter to P3.31 billion from P2.67 billion the previous year.

In 2022, economic recovery boosted Alsons’ profitability as earnings jumped by 42 percent to P1.88 billion.

The company, which is Mindanao’s first private-sector power generator, currently has a portfolio of four power facilities with a combined capacity of 468 MW that serve more than 8 million people.

Eight run-of-river hydroelectric power facilities are in Alsons’ pipeline, including the 14.5-MW Siguil hydro power plant under construction in Maasim, Sarangani that is expected to begin operations this year.