First Philippine Holdings posts P24.85-B income in 2010

MANILA, Philippines - The Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. reported a three-fold jump in net income last year due to a hefty gain from the sale of additional shares in power distributor Manila Electric Co.

In a filing with securities regulators, FPHC said its net earnings reached P24.85 billion compared with only P8.731 billion in 2009.

Excluding one-off gains from the sale of Meralco, FPHC’s earnings amounted to P1.23 billion.

FPHC divested 6.6 percent of its stake in Meralco for P23.6 billion in 2010 to Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. of telecommunications magnate Manuel V. Pangilinan. The Pangilinan-led group is now the single largest shareholder in the country’s largest power retailer.

Last month, the company repurchased 387,180 shares at P51.71 each share as part of a P6 billion two-year buy back program.

Shares of FPHC closed flat Friday at P61.50.

The newly acquired shares will be held in treasury where stocks are non-voting, do not pay out dividends and are not considered when calculating the company’s outstanding shares.

The company will have 32.62 million treasury shares following the transaction.

FPHC presently generates most of its revenues from power generation activities through listed First Gen Corp. and Energy Development Corp. It also owns 6.6 percent of Meralco.

The company also owns a 49-percent stake in high-end developer Rockwell Land Corp.