EDC profit up 31% to P4.4B last year

MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-owned Energy Development Corp. (EDC), the country’s leading producer of geothermal energy, reported yesterday a net income of P4.4 billion last year, up 31 percent from P3.4 billion in 2009.

EDC president and COO Richard Tantoco attributed the improvement in earnings to the increase in full year electricity revenues from the company’s power generation subsidiary Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI), which operates the Tongonan and Palinpinon geothermal power plants in Leyte and Negros Oriental, respectively.

Tantoco noted that electricity sales amounted to P22.9 billion accounting for 94.6 percent of EDC’s gross revenues from the consolidated steam and electricity sales volume of 7,548.6 gigawatts (gwh).

As compared to 2009, gross revenue from the sale of steam and electricity increased 26.9 percent to P24.2 billion from P19 billion even as sales volume decreased slightly by 665.6 gwh, or 8.1 percent, from 8,214.2 gwh.

“The consistent upward trend in our income results is the product of our two-pronged strategy of driving growth and managing risks. As we completed our acquisition targets and aggressively pursued growth opportunities both in the domestic and international fronts, we also improved our loan portfolio mix with the settlement of the Miyazawa II loan. This further reduced our exposure to the movements of the Japanese yen,” Tantoco said.

Aside from its geothermal business, EDC’s hydroelectric power plants in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija contributed P2.1 billion in electricity revenues, 71.5 percent higher than the P1.2 billion revenues from the previous year due to the completion of refurbishment and upgrade of Unit 1 of the hydroelectric power plant that also increased the power generation capacity.

Tantoco said they will spend most of their budget for rehabilitation. “We have embarked on a capex program that will achieve optimum availability and reliability for all our operating steamfields and power generating assets,” he said.

The company official said they hope to further boost their income performance after all rehabilitation works are completed.

“We have also programmed the commissioning of the BacMan (Bacon-Manito) power plants by June this year. These investments will certainly sustain the gains we achieved last year and continue yielding more value for our shareholders,” Tantoco added.