The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) recorded a 14-percent increase in its consolidated core net income (CCNI) to P40 billion, attributable to its distribution utility (DU) business.
In a disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the company said the DU business accounted for 55 percent of the total income as of end-September this year at P21.9 billion, followed by power generation at 37 percent, amounting to P14.7 billion; and retail electricity supply (RES) and non-electric business, 8 percent or P3.4 billion.
Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan, in the disclosure, said that with the strong performance of the listed firm’s power generation business and the steady growth of core distribution business as of end-September this year, “we stay positive that we will achieve our full-year core profit guidance of P50 billion.”
Pangilinan traced this optimism to the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) issuance of the rate adjustment policy called Rationalized Rules for Setting Distribution Wheeling Rates (RRDWR) for private DUs, which, he said, Meralco “have not obtained in the past 10 years”, and the timely implementation of ERC’s First Regulatory Period (1RP), which Meralco qualified in under the first batch of DUs, from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030.
Pangilinan also underscored the importance of the passage of the Philippine Nuclear Energy Safety Act “which reflects the country’s strong commitment to advance nuclear energy development for long-term energy security and sustainability.”
Meralco said that while the DU business remains to have the largest contribution to income, it is the power generation segment that posted an improvement after the latter’s contribution to the CCNI rose 63 percent.
“This was fueled by earnings from LNG (liquefied natural gas) in (a) Chromite Gas Holdings, Inc. (Chromite Gas) beginning February this year; and (b) PacificLight Power Pte. Ltd. (PacificLight), and strong revenue gains from participation in the Reserve Market,” it said.
Chromite Gas is a joint venture between Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGEN) and AboitizPower’s Therma NatGas Power, Inc., which acquired a significant share in gas power plants and an LNG import terminal in Batangas.
PacificLight, an electricity retailer in Singapore, in turn, is partly-owned by MGEN along with shareholders under the Hong Kong-based investment firm First Pacific Group.
On the other hand, the DU business posted a 0.4 percent drop in energy sales “due to extended period of inclement weather that affected demand in the residential and commercial segments.”
MERALCO WEBSITE PHOTO