Napocor projects net loss of P48.8 billion next year

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) is projecting a net loss of P48.8 billion in 2007, documents showed.

The documents containing the said Napocor figures were submitted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during its recent post-program monitoring (PPM).

When asked to comment on the projected loss, Napocor finance head Lorna Dy said this assumption did not take into consideration any foreign exchange gains.

"This projection is still based on a P52 to a dollar assumption. It is still not final and may still go up or down depending on the forex fluctuation," she said.

Dy said they are also reviewing this figure to take into account the impact of the commercial operation of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).

"We are still looking at these figures in the light of the WESM. Before, we are only using rates mandated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) but with the WESM, the rates may go up or down, thus may have an impact on our financial position," she said.

Based on the unaudited financial statement of Napocor, it posted a consolidated net income of P85 billion. Of this income, P76 billion was accounted for forex gains and the remaining P9 billion was income from operations.

For 2006, it is expected that the Napocor would be able to sustain the income registered in 2005.

The last time that Napocor recorded a net income was in 1997 when it earned P3.05 billion.

Napocor incurred a net loss of P29.9 billion in 2004, a significant improvement over the loss of P117.02 billion in 2003.

The power firm’s financial turnaround was attributed to improved fuel mix and the tariff adjustments given by the energy regulator.