Lopez fate as Meralco CEO up to board

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) clarified reports yesterday which stated that its chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Manuel M. Lopez will step down as CEO “sometime after Meralco’s stockholders’ election.”

Meralco vice president and corporate marketing head Miguel L. Lopez, in a press statement, pointed out that all decisions on this matter are made by the Meralco board of directors.

“Only Meralco’s board of directors has the jurisdiction to decide on matters pertaining to the company’s senior executive positions. All matters and decisions pertaining to executive positions shall be left to the collegial decision of the board,” he said.

The patriarch of the Lopez clan, Oscar Lopez, who is the chairman of holding firm First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), was earlier quoted as saying at the sidelines of First Gen Corp.’s stockholders’ meeting the other day that his younger brother may dispense of his CEO position at Meralco in the next one to two years.

Meralco will hold its stockholder’s meeting next week (May 26) along with the election of new directors in the company’s board with the entry of representatives from business giants Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and San Miguel Corp.

Earlier Meralco, reported a slight drop in its net income for the first quarter of 2009 to P653 million from P655 million a year ago, or a decrease of three percent.

The drop came despite the 1.5-percent increase in the company’s revenues for the period to P44.27 billion.

Meralco’s expenses, however, rose 1.3 percent to P43.31 billion due to a P1.04-billion provisions set aside for probable refunds to its customers.

Last month, the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered Meralco to accelerate its refund of P3.92 billion to consumers from currency exchange rate adjustment (CERA) overcharges the company was found to have amassed from 2003 to 2006 to offset its recent rate hike.

The CERA is a cost-recovery mechanism that previously allowed the utility to reflect in its billings changes in foreign currency-denominated operating and maintenance expenses and principal payments. 

Total energy sales for the three-month period in 2009 decreased 1.4 percent to 6,068 gigawatthours compared to last year’s level due to the economic slowdown brought about by the impact of global recession.

The number of customers during the period rose by 2.6 percent to 4.6 million, of which 106,234 and 9,163 are residential and commercial customers, respectively.

For the period under review, the power distribution firm spent some P1.23 billion for capital expenditures. This is 30 percent higher than the P952-million capex poured in the same period in 2008.