Vivant earnings drop by 15% to P1.6 billion in 2022

MANILA, Philippines — Cebu-based Vivant Corp. reported a 15-percent drop in consolidated and core earnings in 2022, pulled down by the company’s on-grid diesel generation and electricity distribution businesses.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Vivant said its consolidated net income amounted to P1.6 billion while core net income closed at P1.54 billion last year, both down 15 percent year-on-year.

The company said it recognized P53.59 million in non-recurring income, which mainly stemmed from gains resulting from the remeasurement of foreign currency held and the fair value of some of its investments.

The power business unit continued to be the main driver of the company’s financial performance, while the infrastructure business unit started to post gains during the year.

The power unit’s income contribution declined by 13 percent to P2.25 billion.

Power generation and electricity distribution comprised the bulk of the company’s profits in 2022,  accounting for 64 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

The power generation business contributed P1.45 billion,   16 percent lower year-on-year, due to the 80-percent drop in the profit of its on-grid diesel assets.

“Lower revenues from ancillary services and spot market sales brought down the group’s performance for the year. Moreover, a subsidiary incurred one-off expenses related to the purchase of its plant assets in April 2022,” Vivant said.

On the other hand, Vivant’s off grid assets showed a strong recovery with a 273-percent jump   in income to P61.91 million as operations of all island utilities showed significant expansion in energy sales.

Investments in coal assets also generated profits of P1.13 billion, up by 53 percent year-on-year on improved revenues from spot market sales, lower operating expenses, and the fuel cost management of an associate.

Meanwhile, the retail group saw an 18-percent decrease in its bottomline contribution to P52.96 million.

The Retail Electricity Supply (RES) companies posted a 29-percent slide in earnings to P48.73 million while the solar rooftop business had a positive contribution of P4.23 million.

The electricity distribution business also reported a seven-percent decrease in earnings to P755.32 million.

“Electricity sales for the year were weighed down by the disruption in operations during the first two months of the year,” Vivant said.

“Moreover, the financial assistance extended to its customers in the form of waived charges and the delayed recovery of generation charges contributed to the lower profit contribution for the year,” it said.

Finally, Vivant’s infrastructure business unit recorded a positive income share of P6.26 million, reversing its losses in the previous year.

“Fresh income contribution from its wastewater treatment facility in Puerto Princesa and gains from foreign currency held by a subsidiary accounted for the favorable earnings results for the year,” it said.