Napocor loses P11.9 B in 2000

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) incurred a net loss of P11.9 billion in 2000, almost double the P6 billion it incurred in 1999, Napocor acting president Asiselo Gonzaga reported yesterday.

"We are technically bankrupt," Gonzaga said, attributing the company’s mounting losses to the depreciation of the peso against the dollar which put a heavy burden on the firm’s debt servicing.

Gonzaga said the shrinking of Napocor’s market also contributed to the weakness in the company’s financial position.

He said the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Napocor’s biggest energy buyer, already put up its own plant. Meralco’s move, he said, narrowed down the market for Napocor.

Gonzaga said the entry of independent power producers (IPPs) also affected Napocor’s market share.

Demand for energy in Mindanao "is practically flat" last year due to the IPP’s, Gonzaga said.

He said the company is likely to face more financial problems when their operational fund run out before the end of this year.

The company’s operations, he said, are funded by previous loans granted to the company by multinational companies and international banks.

"But this fund will start to dwindle in November this year. We can still survive until November. After this month, we don’t know how we can survive," Gonzaga said.

The power firm is also looking for ways to pay off a $200-million loan that will mature this November, he said.

Gonzaga said they could not tap the international market due to the non-passage of the power bill which is considered by international creditors as one of the criteria to grant the loan to Napocor.

The worst case scenario, he said, is that Napocor would be dependent on the budget of the Department of Energy. "We can’t go to the market to borrow. If this will be the case, we will use DOE as piggy bank," he said.