Vivant posts P605-M income in 1st half of 2013

MANILA, Philippines–Listed firm Vivant Corporation (Vivant) ended the first semester of 2013 with a P604.7 million net income attributable to parent on the back of P1.6 billion total revenues.

In a statement, Vivant said that despite higher energy sales of the power generation group, the softening of spot market prices mainly accounted for the 20 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in the company’s topline performance.

This was partly offset by the strong showing of Vivant’s electricity distribution business, given robust electricity sales efficiency gains due to systems improvements.

During the same period, the statement said, Vivant’s associate–-the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Administrator of the 70-MW Bakun hydropower plant (Bakun plant)–- booked a non-recurring gain of P436.5 million. The one-off income was a
result of the reduction in its monthly payments to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) due to the Bakun plant’s prolonged shutdown.

Accounting for Vivant’s share in its associate’s one-off gain,
the company’s core net income recorded a marginal decline of 4 percent year on year to P604 million from P628.8 million.

Vivant said that its power generation business, which is composed of diesel, hydroelectric and coal power plants, accounted for bulk of earnings from business segments, contributing P373.7 million or 54 percent of total. Meanwhile, the electricity distribution sector contributed P320.4 million, up 67 percent year on year.

This was on the back of an 8 percent YoY growth in electricity sales, coupled with reduced systems loss.

Total assets as of semester-end was at P7.2 billion (vis-à-vis end-2012’s P7.1 billion), while Equity Attributable to Parent stood at P5.4 billion compared to last year’s P4.8 billion. Cash and Cash Equivalents amounted to P2.1 billion, while total consolidated interest-bearing liabilities was at P315 million. Current ratio as of June 2013 was at 3.4x (vis-à-vis year-end 2012’s 2.2x), while net debt-to-equity ratio was at -0.3x versus 2012’s -0.25x.

Vivant is the holding firm of the Cebu-based Garcia-Escano family, which holds investments in the power business. Since 2007, Vivant has built its generation asset porfolio to hold investments in power plants in Luzon and the Visayas, with total generation capacity close to 630 MW.

The company’s equity investment in Visayan Electric Company, Inc., the country’s second largest distribution utility, remains its sole investment in the electricity distribution business.

The statement said Vivant will continue to be on the lookout for investment opportunities in the power industry. Last week, it announced plans of joining PSALM’s bidding for four power barges to be auctioned off in October.