Meralco Sees Double-Digit Profit Rise, Robust Sales

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) posted a second-quarter core net income of P10.16 billion, up 52.8% from P6.65 billion a year ago, the listed power distributor said.

Photo Insert: As of the first half, Meralco’s customer count reached 7.72 million, up 2.7% from 7.52 million a year ago.

Reported income, which is adjusted to exclude one-time charges, rose by 45.1% to P9.78 billion in the second quarter from P6.74 billion in the same period last year.

“As far as we are concerned, sales continued to be rather robust. We continue to be optimistic. We expect profits to be at record-high for the full year,” Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman and chief executive officer of Meralco, said in a media briefing.

In the first half, consolidated core net income reached P19.21 billion, up by 46.8% from P13.09 billion a year ago, boosted by its power generation business.

Betty C. Siy-Yap, Meralco’s senior vice president and chief finance officer, said energy sales increased by 3.4% to 24,792 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 23,968 GWh, driven by a growth in the consumption of the commercial segment.

In the January-to-June period, Meralco recorded an all-time high commercial sales volume of 9,162 GWh, or 10.3% higher than 8,305 GWh previously, while residential sales volume rose by 1.4% to 8,629 GWh from 8,506 GWh. Industrial sales volume, however, decreased by 2.2% to 6,929 GWh from 7,085 a year ago.

As of the first half, Meralco’s customer count reached 7.72 million, up 2.7% from 7.52 million a year ago.

In the first six months, Meralco posted consolidated revenues of P224.82 billion, higher by 12.6% than the P199.61 billion in the corresponding period a year ago. Reported net income went up by 36.1% to P17.85 billion from P13.12 billion.

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