Vivant group rang up 43% surge in 2023 bottom line

MANILA, Philippines — Cebu-based company Vivant Corp. weathered a “challenging macroeconomic and financial environment” as earnings surged by 43 percent to P2.3 billion in 2023 from P1.6 billion a year ago.

“The year 2023 felt the pressures from inflation and high interest rates, mostly a result of ongoing geopolitical tensions, trade-restrictive measures and weather-induced commodity price hikes,” Vivant said in a disclosure.

“With [the] government’s policy response and implementation of key structural reforms, the local economy managed to navigate the difficult economic and financial environment and posted a decent GDP (gross domestic product) annual growth of 5.6 percent,” the firm added.

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The listed company recognized P366.4 million in non-core income primarily from onetime management and technical contracts, realized gain from the share acquisition made by a subsidiary and the fair value recognition of some of its investments.

Netting out the one-off items, Vivant’s core net income jumped by 24 percent to P1.9 billion. Its energy business unit, Vivant Energy Corp., contributed P3.1 billion to the parent firm’s bottom line, an increase of 36 percent.

“All business segments shored up the unit’s performance, which rode on the spurred economic activities in both the main and island grids,” Vivant said. Vivant’s power-generation business made an income contribution of P1.9 billion as both on-grid and off-grid business segments exhibited “strong results.”

Strong performance across all segments

Likewise, the electricity distribution business logged a 33-percent increase to end at P1 billion after electricity sales rose by 12 percent on the back of higher consumption of both residential and nonresidential segments.

READ: Vivant Energy to expand in off-grid areas

The retail group saw its bottom line climb by 37 percent to P72.4 million due to robust growth in energy delivered and an increased customer base.

However, the water strategic business unit incurred a negative income contribution of P15.6 million despite the improvement of the waste water business as water solutions and water supply sustained higher costs and operating expenses.

“Vivant remains bullish in sustaining our growth in the power generation and electricity distribution sector as well as in the water infrastructure segment,” Vivant CEO Arlo Sarmiento said.

As of last year, Vivant’s consolidated assets went up by 13 percent to P29.9 billion while total noncurrent assets grew by 17 percent to P22.6 billion. Meanwhile, total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent reached P18.3 billion. — Jordeene B. Lagare INQ