SPC Power boosts income 7-fold to P311.6M in Q1

Manila, Philippines -  Listed energy firm SPC Power Corp. recorded a robust profit growth in the first quarter given new businesses and stronger operations of its units.

Total comprehensive net income surged more than seven times to P311.57 million from just P43.17 million in the same period last year, the company said.

“The substantial increase was due mainly to the strong operating results of associates and subsidiaries,” SPC Power said.

The company’s subsidiaries are Bohol Light Co., Inc., SPC Island Power Corp. and SPC Electric Co., Inc. It also has a stake in Mactan Electric Co. Inc. and Kepco SPC Power Corp.

Total revenues grew by more than a third to P474.74 million from P343.33 million year-on-year.

Specifically, SPC Power’s equity share in Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC) reached P194 million, accounting for 62 percent of total earnings.

KSPC holds power supply agreements with firms like Mactan Electric Co., Negros Oriental 2 Electric Cooperative Inc., Negros Oriental 1 Electric Cooperative Inc., Cebu I Electric Cooperative Inc., Cebu II Electric Cooperative Inc. and Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative Inc.

SPC Power said it also benefited from a new income stream through SPC Malaya Power Corp. (SMPC).

Late last year, SMPC began operating and maintaining the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya thermal plant in Rizal. The new income stream resulted in a P86-million profit for the parent firm.

SPC Power said cost of services, or expenses for plant operations, rose 14.3 percent to P326.23 million from P285.52 million.

This was due to higher pass-through fuel cost and additional payment for retirement and separation benefits, the firm said.

In March, SPC Power bagged a six-month contract to continue operating and maintaining the Naga power plant complex in Cebu.

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. approved the P148.99-million offer of SPC Power for a six-month operation and maintenance service contract.

The 145.8-MW Naga complex, which is operated by SPC Power, is composed of three thermal power plants that use a combination of diesel, bunker C oil and coal as fuel.

These power plants are: the 50-MW, coal-fired Cebu Thermal Power Plant 1, the 56.8-MW Cebu Thermal Power Plant 2 and the 39-MW Cebu Diesel Power Plant 1.

That same month, the Energy Regulatory Commission approved the application for the renewal of the certificate of compliance of SPC Island Power Corp. for its 1.56-MW Olango diesel power plant in Cebu for another five years.