Meralco sees P14B net profit this year

Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor, expects to post a 15-percent increase in its core net income to P14 billion for 2011 even as it was allowed by government regulators to collect lower distribution, supply and metering charges.

The projection was on the assumption that the utility’s electricity sales in the second half of the year would be broadly similar to the first six months of the year, according to Meralco president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.

For the first half of the year, Meralco posted a 35-percent increase in its consolidated core net income to P7.8 billion from the year-ago level of P5.8 billion. The consolidated reported net income stood at P6.1 billion in the first half, up 26 percent compared with the same period last year, company officials said in a briefing Monday.

Consolidated revenues, however, dipped 2 percent due to lower generation and system-loss charges and the slightly lower volume of energy sold during the period.

Meralco chief operating officer Oscar S. Reyes reported that the lower sales volume in the first six months was due to cooler temperatures during the first half, lower GDP growth and the absence of election spending.

Total energy sold during the period reached 14,781 gigaWatt-hours, or about 1 percent lower than last year’s first half record levels. Revenues generated from electricity sales of both Meralco and a 65-percent owned subsidiary, Clark Electric Distribution Corp., reached P121 billion.

Meanwhile, customer count grew 3 percent to 4.9 million, with the residential sector leading the growth with a 3-percent increase, followed by the commercial customers at 2 percent. This increase in billed customers represented a 3.2 percent year-on-year growth.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan also disclosed that Meralco’s board of directors approved the payment of an interim cash dividend of P3.45 a share, based on the dividend payout of first-half core net earnings, the highest so far in Meralco’s 108-year history.