Alsons income grows 26% to P103 million in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR), the listed holding firm of the Alcantara Group, improved its net earnings by 26.5 percent to P103 million due to lower expenses and finance charges.

In its quarterly report to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ACR said revenue slightly increased to P1.68 billion as the first 105-megawatt (MW) section of the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) continued to offset the performance of its existing diesel plants, which have not renewed their bilateral contracts and are operating as merchant plants.

ACR operates three diesel power facilities: the 103-MW Mapalad Power Corp. diesel plant in lligan City, the 55-MW Southern Philippines Power Corp. facility in Sarangani, and the 100-MW power plant of the Western Mindanao Power Corp. in Zamboanga City.

Finance charges slightly dropped from P270 million to P255 million due to partial pre-payment of long-term debt earlier this year and the settlement of short-term loans before end-2017.

However, at the parent level, ACR incurred a net loss of P20 million, a reversal of the P35 million income earned in the same period last year due to the partial divestment of Alsons Thermal Energy Corp. (ATEC) late last year.

“This divestment, however, allowed ACR’s partnership with GBP wherein the company believes that this endeavor will greatly benefit power consumers particularly in light of the planned interconnection of the Mindanao and Visayas grids,” the company said.

ACR sold its 50 percent stake in ATEC to GBP for roughly P2.37 billion. The deal was approved by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) in September last year.

The company is working on completing the second section of SEC to begin commercial operations within the first quarter of 2019.

Once completed, it will contribute another 105 MW of baseload power to benefit an additional three million residents of South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Cagayan de Oro City, and other key areas of the island.

The P3.7-billion, 15.1-MW run-of -river hydroelectric power project at the Siguil River basin in Maasim, Sarangani Province will start commercial operations within the first half of 2020.

Marking ACR’s entry into the renewable energy sphere, the Siguil Hydro power plant will provide power to Sarangani Province, General Santos City and key municipalities of South Cotabato.

The 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) baseload coal-fired power plant, on the other hand, will provide baseload power to Zamboanga City and other nearby areas when it commences commercial operations in 2021.