Phinma Energy breaches P1-B income in 2016

MANILA, Philippines - Phinma Energy Corp. breached the P1-billion income mark last year on the back of higher sales volume and a non-recurring income after it sold a partial stake in one of its power plants.

Consolidated net income amounted to P1.383 billion in 2016, a 53 percent jump from the previous year’s P906 million, the company said in a statement.

Electricity sales volume increased 33 percent to 2,947 gigawatt-hours (gwh) while revenue from the sale of electricity increased 15 percent to P15.5 billion.

The company attributed the increase in sales to higher available generation capacity with the commercial operations of the second 135-megawatt (MW) unit of South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) and Power Barges 101 and 102 in February 2016.

The company also sold five percent of its stake in SLTEC, a joint project with the Ayala Group, to Axia Power Holdings Philippines Corp., a unit of the Marubeni Group, where it realized a gain  of P444 million towards the end of the year.

Post-sale, Phinma Energy remains the largest SLTEC shareholder with 45 perent, followed by Ayala with 35 percent and Marubeni with 20 percent. 

“The investment by Marubeni in SLTEC validates the confidence of the partners in Phinma Energy’s power plant management capabilities, and also paves the way for the partners to jointly examine power projects in the future,” the firm said.

Phinma Energy also realized net earnings from affiliate Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI), which amounted to P35 million.

In terms of renewable energy, its subsidiary Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corp. delivered 96.7 gwh of electricity from its 54-MW wind farm in Guimaras during the year, slightly lower than the 108 gwh produced the previous year.