Alsons posts 70% growth in H1 earnings

MANILA  -Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. logged a 70-percent growth in earnings to P1.17 billion in the first semester of the year as its two major power plants continued to drive income.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Monday, Alsons said its earnings in the second quarter alone hit P605.28 million, a 65-percent rise from P364.93 million in the same period last year.

Net income attributable to the parent company also surged by 91 percent to P346.14 million. Revenues likewise rose to P6.9 billion from P5.4 billion.

Alsons, the publicly listed firm of the Alcantara group, noted that its 210-megawatt (MW) Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) baseload power plant “continued to be the key revenue and income driver for the company,” along with the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) diesel-fired plant in Zamboanga City.

SEC presently provides electricity to key areas in Mindanao, including Sarangani province, General Santos City, and Cagayan de Oro City.

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

“[Alsons] is now focused on building up its renewable energy capacity in the next few years, with several renewable energy facilities in the company’s pipeline,” Alsons said in its disclosure, adding that the 14.5-MW Siguil hydroelectric power plant was expected to begin commercial operations within the year.

A hydro and solar power project with a capacity of up to 37.8 MW is also slated for development in Zamboanga del Norte province.

In June, the company raised an additional P1.38 billion from its commercial paper issuance as it worked to build its renewable energy portfolio in Mindanao.

The amount represents the second tranche of a P3-billion commercial paper program. The initial P620 million was listed in December last year.