Meralco expects improvement in profits this year

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) expects a slight improvement in profits this year as sales volume continued to expand, according to its top official.

“We expect a slight improvement in our income because volumes for this year are better than last year,” Meralco president Oscar Reyes said.

Reyes said Meralco registered strong sales growth in the first few months, but volume started to soften in August.

August sales only grew by half a percent, while September numbers rose 2.5 percent.

But year-to-date, the sales figures were still better compared to last year.

Meralco’s consolidated energy sales volume expanded by five percent to 42,102 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

This placed the company’s core net income higher by three percent to P20.2 billion last year and reported net income up by six percent to P20.4 billion.

Meralco officials have yet to provide a profit guidance for the year, but chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said he expects a better 2018.

In the first half, the power distributor’s sales volume rose 6.5 percent to 21,665 GWh on healthy customer growth.

This pushed core net income up by seven percent to P10.85 billion. Consolidated revenues expanded by seven percent to P150.5 billion.

Meralco is set to announce its nine-month performance next week.

Reyes declined to give projections for the last quarter, but said the expected El Niño could help push sales up.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier  said parts of Luzon were expected to experience dry spell to drought conditions in the coming months due to El Niño.

Dry spell pertains to two consecutive months of way below normal rainfall while drought refers to five months of below normal rainfall.

El Niño refers to above-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean and is associated with below normal rainfall.