ACEN net income up 25% in Q2

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. saw its earning rise by 25 percent to P1.8 billion in the second quarter, fueled by the recovery in its Philippine operations.

ACEN, in a stock exchange filing, said its net income was boosted by the fresh contribution of new Philippine and international plants, as well as the easing of curtailment issues in the Visayas.

The listed energy platform of the Ayala Group said improvements in plant availability also allowed the company some excess capacity, enabling it to benefit from strong wholesale electricity prices during the quarter.

ACEN’s second quarter performance showed the return to profitability of its Philippine business, significantly reducing the decline in net income for the first half.

ACEN reported a net income of P2.2 billion in the first semester, down 19 percent from the same period in 2021.

Consolidated revenues grew by 19 percent year-on-year to P16 billion, with higher spot market prices offsetting the impact of curtailment and customer buyout fees in the first quarter.

“The Philippine business has returned to profitability as we start to recover from short-term headwinds experienced in the first quarter of the year,” ACEN CFO and treasurer Cora Dizon said.

“With fresh contributions from our newly operational solar and wind farms, ACEN continues to reap the returns of its aggressive expansion both within the country and abroad,” Dizon said.

Attributable output of the company in the first half jumped by 11 percent to 2,482 gigawatt hours (GWh) on the back of increased operating capacity from its wind farms in Vietnam and solar plants in India, which offset the impact of thermal outages in the first quarter.

ACEN said driving the rise in generation were the international plants, which produced 1,268 GWh in the first half, up 48 percent year-on-year.

Output from renewable energy plants reached 1,692 GWh, a 52-percent growth from the same period in 2021.

“We’re delighted to see the strong rebound in the second quarter, which helps generate momentum as the company sets out its bold ambition to reach 20 GW of renewables by 2030,” ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia said.

The company’s board of directors recently approved the corporate vision and strategy targeting 20 GW of attributable renewables capacity by 2030, which represents six times growth from 3.4 GW of renewables capacity at present.