Meralco sales up 3.2% in 4 mos
MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, reported a 3.2-percent growth in electricity sales in the first four months of the year over the same period last year.
Meralco president Oscar Reyes said in April alone, sales surged 9.2 percent over the same period in 2012. However, he said it was too early to say how the business environment would be for the rest of the year.
“We’d like to see how sales would continue to behave in May and June,†Reyes said in a press briefing after Meralco’s annual stockholders’ meeting.
He said Meralco is looking to expand its footprint outside Luzon, in areas where there is lack of power and the price is quite challenging.
“We’re looking where we can create value. We have to be able to deliver value to customers there. We have to be welcomed and we have to generate fairly decent returns,†he said.
He said this could be done through joint venture agreements with electric cooperatives or small private distribution utilities.
“We are open to various options,†Reyes said.
Meralco earlier reported a core net income of P4 billion in the first quarter compared with P3.4 billion a year ago despite lower revenues.
In a financial report, Meralco attributed the increase in its net income to the sustained increase in the number of customer accounts, the faster energization of new property developments, as well as the recent opening of Solaire Resort and Casino, a hotel-casino complex at the Pagcor Entertainment City.
However, consolidated electric revenues in January to March declined one percent to P64.2 billion from P65.1 billion in 2012.
Consolidated volume of energy sales for the first quarter of 2013 rose by one percent to 7,777 gigawatt-hours compared to a year ago.
The number of billed customers increased to more than 5.2 million with additional 165,000 customer accounts since March 2012.
Core net income last year reached P16.265 billion, higher than the P14.9 billion recorded in 2011, reflecting a nine- percent growth in core earnings.
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