Meralco posts 35% hike in net income

MANILA, Philippines–Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor, registered a 35-percent hike in its consolidated core net income to P7.8 billion from a year ago level of P5.8 billion, despite posting lower sales volume during the period.

In a briefing held Monday, Meralco COO Oscar S. Reyes noted that the 1 percent decline in total electricity sales volume was due to cooler temperatures, lower GDP growth and the absence of election spending in the first half of 2011, compared to the same period last year.

Meralco officials also reported that the company’s consolidated reported net income was likewise significantly higher by 26 percent to P6.1 billion, even as it posted lower consolidated revenues of P124.8 billion.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, president and CEO of Meralco, said the company expects to post P14 billion in core net income for full year 2011.

Pangilinan said this was on the basis that the company’s electricity sales in the second half this year will be broadly similar to that realized in the first half, and reflecting slightly lower distribution tariffs for this period as a consequence of the third regulatory period.