Alsons earnings surge 19% in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - Higher sales from its major power projects boosted net earnings of Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., the publicly-listed holding company of the Alcantara Group, by a fifth in the first nine months of 2015.

In a statement, Alsons said it recorded a 19 percent rise in consolidated net income to P685 million in the January-September period from P574 million in the same period last year.

“Despite the lower price indices used in computing tariffs for the period, net income still increased due to the higher dispatch of electricity sold by its three diesel-fired power plants,” the company said.

The three plants consist of the 103-megawatt (MW) Mapalad Power in Iligan City, the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power in Zamboanga City and the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power in Alabel, Sarangani.

The plants sold 1.065 million megawatt hours (mwh) of electricity, an increase of 17 percent from the 910,000 mwh sold in the same period last year.

“All three Alsons diesel plants have significantly contributed to alleviating the power shortage in Mindanao,” Alson said.

Alsons, however, said its net income attributable to the parent recorded for the period was slightly lower at P275 million against P307 million in the same period last year due to foreign exchange losses.

“The decline came from a revaluation of the dollar-denominated debt registered at parent level coming from the recent weakening of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar,” it said. 

Sans the non-recurring loss, parent income would have increased 54 percent to P474 million.

In a meeting last Friday, the company’s board approved the creation of a new subsidiary to act as the holding company that will house all of the coal-fired power plant assets and projects.

Alsons is currently developing coal-fired power facilities, namely the 105 MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) plant in Zamboanga City and the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) plant in Maasim, Sarangani – to help provide a stable source of baseload power for Mindanao and ensure long-term power security for the island.

For the SEC plant, the first 105-MW section is targeted to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2016. Meanwhile, the SEC plant is expected to be operating at its full 210 MW capacity in 2018.

On the other hand, the SRPI power facility in Zamboanga City is expected to begin construction in 2016 and is slated to operate by 2019.

The group is also entering the renewable energy space with the development of a 15 MW run of river hydroelectric plant along the Siguil River in Maasim, Sarangani, which will begin construction in 2016.

By 2019, Alsons’ affiliated power facilities are expected to have a total generating capacity of 588 MW, which will service 25 percent of Mindanao’s peak power requirements.

Apart from the power business, the Alcantara Group is also engaged in aquaculture and agribusiness, property development and services.