First Gen profit up 6% to $92M in 2006

Power firm First Gen Corp. reported yesterday a net income of $92 million for 2006, six percent higher than the $87-million profit a year earlier, a ranking company official said. 

First Gen vice chairman and CEO Peter Garrucho Jr. said the improvement in the company’s profit performance could be attributed to several factors, including higher earnings from its newly-acquired Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power facilities.

Other factors that contributed to the improved income level last year were the higher dispatch of its gas-fired power plants and lower and administrative and interest expenses.

Garrucho said as they expect the company’s earnings and revenues to continue to improve this year, they would be pouring in more investments in expansion, new and greenfield projects, and acquisition of power plants of the National Power Corp. (Napocor). 

The First Gen executive said they would be spending $13 million for the expansion program of its Sta.Rita and San Lorenzo natural gas-fired facilities. This initiative, he said, would raise the two plants’ capacities by a total of 75.4 megawatts (mw).

He said this expansion, which would help meet the much-needed capacity in the Luzon grid by 2010, would be implemented next year.

Garrucho earlier announced that First Gen would also invest in the upgrade and modernization of Pantabangan-Masiway which would increase the capacity of the two power plants to 109 MW.

For the upgrade of the two hydro facilities, which is expected to start early next year and would be completed mid-2008, the company intends to spend between $20 million to $25 million. 

The upgrading process would result in 15 MW of additional capacity for each of Pantabangan’s two 50-mw units. 

The upgrade of Masiway, on the other hand, is seen to add up one MW in the power plant’s capacity. 

Meanwhile, the $80-million expansion project would be completed in 2010 in time for the expected additional power demand in the Luzon grid. 

The expansion of the capacity will involve putting in additional units for Pantabangan (65 MW) and Masiway (13 mw).

Garrucho said the upgrade and expansion would be financed through proceeds from the company’s recent $90-million bond offering, $170-million initial public offering (IPO) and internally-generated funds.