First Holdings profit slips to P2.4 B in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) recorded substantially lower profits last year on the absence of non-recurring income from an asset sale and a consolidation program.

“The audited financial statement show a net income attributable to equity holders of the parent of P2.4 billion as compared with the [previous] year’s P9.2 billion,” FPH said in a disclosure.

“The decrease is mainly due to the absence of the gain on the sale of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) shares,” it added.

In 2012, FPH recognized a P6.08-billion gain from the sale of Meralco shares to Pangilinan-led Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc. FPH Group still owns around 3.9 percent of the power distribution giant.

The investment holding firm of the Lopez family for the power business also said its profits decreased last year in the absence of “the gain related to the consolidation of Rockwell Land Corp.’s financials with those of the FPH Group.”

In 2012, FPH benefited from the P2.1-billion gain with the consolidation of upscale property firm Rockwell Land.

FPH, through its power generating units, is looking at increasing its capacity by 400-500 megawatts (MW) in the next few years.

As of end-2012, FPH, one of the top power producers in the country, had a total installed capacity of 2,763 MW, of which natural gas accounts for 54 percent, followed by geothermal at 41 percent and hydropower at five percent.

It operates the power business through units Energy Development Corp. and renewable energy firm First Gen Corp. It is also into economic zones through First Philippine Industrial Park that has more than 60 locators employing 35,000-40,000 workers in Batangas.