NGCP admits bulk of income in 4 years went to paying dividends
MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines admitted Tuesday before the Senate energy panel that the majority of its income during four separate years went to dividends for its shareholders.
The grid operator told senators that in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019 a bulk of its net income was paid out to shareholders.
In 2019, the NGCP said its net income was P20.3 billion, of which P15 billion or around 74% went to dividends.
Two years prior to this, around 92% of its P20.6 billion net income or P19 billion went to dividends. The dividends distributed by the NGCP in 2015 was around 93% of its P22.5 billion net income or around P21 billion.
“It appears that a huge sum really goes to dividends,” Senate energy panel chairperson Raffy Tulfo said partly in Filipino. “Mapapa-sana all ka na lang talaga.”
For 2014, the NGCP reported that its dividends even exceeded its net income with P24 billion being handed to shareholders even as it only earned P22 billion.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza explained that their dividends and net income may not necessarily line up.
“Our profits or dividend are taken from retained earnings which have accumulated over the year so it’s not a one is to one,” Alabanza said.
But Tulfo was unconvinced. “A bigger amount goes to dividends instead of being reinvested for development. Only in the Philippines is transmission for-profit. It should be not-for-profit,” he said.
“You prioritize income over improving services by installing proper transmission lines,” he added.
But by NGCP’s own admission as well, its capital outlay was P39 billion in 2019 and P22.8 billion in 2017, which was more than the dividends it paid to shareholders in those years.
The Energy Regulatory Commission also said the NGCP has been spending higher on capital expenditures, but asked why its projects have not been completed despite this spending.
The ERC told the committee during the previous hearing that P12 billion of the NGCP’s P41-billion income in 2022 went to dividends.
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