EDC turns around, books P8.57-B profit in 9 mos

MANILA, Philippines - With huge revenue contributions from subsidiaries, Energy Development Corp. (EDC) made a significant turnaround in the first nine months of 2012, posting a net income of P8.57 billion or a reversal from a net loss of P488 million in the same period last year.  

In a statement, EDC said its subsidiaries Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI) and First Gen Hydro Power Corp. (FGHPC) contributed greatly to the reversal in its financial performance.

GCGI registered a net income of P2.16 billion coming from the operations of the 305-megawatt Tongonan I and Palinpinon power plants.

FGHPC, on the other hand, earned P2.77 billion from the sale of electricity and ancillary services from the Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric plants. 

But EDC noted that its income would have been higher were it not for the losses incurred by other subsidiaries which suffered operational and technical problems.

“These were partially offset by the P195-million net loss by another subsidiary, Bacman Geothermal Inc. (BGI), mainly due to trading losses as a result of the delay in the re-commissioning of the Bacman geothermal plants,” EDC president and COO Richard Tantoco said.

“The generator rotor of both Units 1 and 2 are already on site from Stafford, England. Meantime, the re-blading of the turbine rotors is still on-going. Everything that we presently know points to EDC conducting reliability runs close to the end of 2012 and achieving full commercial operation in 2013 for the large Bacman units,” he added.

“For the 20-MW Bacman unit, our best case view now is for a de-rated operation of six to seven MW only and the timing is still uncertain.  The generator rotor is being repaired in country and it is proceeding very slowly.  In the meantime, we have ordered a replacement which has a leadtime of 14 months to deliver on site,” the EDC chief said.

Tantoco also noted that EDC’s recurring net income in the first three quarters of 2012 rose 96 percent to P7.77 billion from P3.97 billion in the same period last year, mainly due to the P4.07-billion increase in electricity sales by GCGI and FGHPC. 

Net income and recurring net income attributable to equity holders of the parent also increased to P7.1 billion and P6.3 billion, respectively.