Alsons profit up 19% on diesel power sales

Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR), the publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group, reported a 19 percent increase in net income to P685 million as of September this year compared to the same nine-month period last year.

The company’s strong nine-month performance was attributed to the higher amount of electricity dispatched by its diesel-fired power plants: The 103-megawatt (MW) Mapalad Power in Iligan City, the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power in Zamboanga City, and the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power in Alabel, Sarangani province.

For the nine-month period, these three plants sold 1.065 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity, 17 percent more than the 910,000 MWh sold in the same period last year. All three diesel plants have significantly contributed to alleviating the power shortage in Mindanao.

In a report, ACR said the net income attributable to the parent firm was slightly lower at P275 million against the P307 million registered in the same period last year. The decline was due to the revaluation of the parent’s dollar-denominated debt.

Without this nonrecurring loss, the parent firm’s income would have registered at P474 million for the nine-month period. This is 54 percent higher than the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the company approved the creation of a new subsidiary that will act as a holding company for the coal-fired power plant assets and projects that ACR is currently developing. ACR is developing these facilities to help provide a stable source of baseload power for Mindanao and ensure long-term power security for the island.

These facilities are: The 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) plant in Zamboanga City and the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) plant in Maasim, Sarangani.