Meralco cleared to extend corporate life by 50 years

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor, has secured regulatory approval to extend its corporate life by another 50 years.

The approval amends the fourth article of its incorporation papers, which will extend the firm’s corporate life by 50 years from from May 7, 2019.

The extension was approved by the Meralco board on Jan. 29 and by stockholders on May 29 last year.

Meralco’s bid to extend its corporate life follows expectations of a historic full year profit after it ended the third quarter on a strong note.

As of the end of September, Meralco reported a nine percent jump in core net income to P16.7 billion, while net income jumped 14 percent to P18.2 billion.

Total revenues rose six percent to P227.4 billion, still largely driven by energy sales of its distribution business.

Meralco registered a 4.8 percent increase in energy sales to 32,921 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Customer count expanded by 4.7 percent to 6.54 million.

The fourth quarter performance is expected to push the power distributor to exceed 2017 figures on the back of a strong start in October.

Last year, Meralco’s consolidated energy sales volume rose five percent to 42,102 GWh, pushing core net income higher by three percent to P20.2 billion and net income by six percent to P20.4 billion.