Meralco’s 2018 bottom line up 11%

Manila Electric Co. saw an 11-percent jump in consolidated core net income in 2018, which reached P22.4 billion amid a strong showing of technology-based businesses.

Betty Siy-Yap, Meralco chief finance officer, said in a briefing the power giant’s audited consolidated core net income went up from P20.4 billion in 2017.

Siy-Yap said consolidated electricity revenue rose by 7 percent to P295.4 billion last year, mainly due to “a relatively resilient domestic consumption.”

She said Meralco’s operational and financial performance again reached record highs despite a weaker economic growth, and higher inflation and interest rates. Also last year, coal prices were higher while temperatures were cooler especially in the fourth quarter.

Consolidated volume of electricity sold was up 5 percent to 44,313 gigawatt-hours, “driven by the new phenomenon of the rapidly expanding Philippine offshore gaming operators, the contribution of the business process outsourcing industry and growth in remittances from overseas Filipinos.”

In a statement, Meralco chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said the sustained growth of the domestic economy, and the resilience of the global economy had allowed Meralco to continue to achieve growth in energy sales in 2018.

Higher sales were also attained “despite an increase in the pursuit of greater energy efficiency across all customer classes distributed and self-generation, particularly rooftop solar, which could negatively impact sales volumes,” Pangilinan said.—RONNEL W. DOMINGO