ACR earnings rise over 4-fold

MANILA, Philippines — Alcantara-led Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. said its earnings rose over four-fold in the first half of the year, driven by the continued operations of its power plants in Mindanao.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ACR said consolidated net earnings in the first half jumped to P1.39 billion from P293.08 million in the same period last year as its profit surged in the second quarter to P1.08 billion from P188.72 million a year ago.

Revenue in the first half grew by 70 percent to P5.28 billion from P3.10 billion the previous year, with second quarter revenue climbing to P3.07 billion.

The company attributed the revenue growth to its 210 megawatt (MW) coal-fired baseload power plant of subsidiary Sarangani Energy Corp (SEC), which continued to be the key revenue and income driver for the company.

“The SEC plant began operating at full capacity when the power facility’s second 105 MW section came online in October 2019. SEC currently provides power to key areas in Mindanao including Sarangani province, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Dipolog, Dapitan, Pagadian, Samal, Tagum, Kidapawan and Butuan,” ACR said.

The $570-million SEC plant is the single largest investment in the entire Region 12.

“For the rest of the year, we remain cautiously optimistic on the financial performance of the company,”ACR deputy chief financial officer Philip Edward Sagun said.

“We expect higher revenue and profit margins from the full commercial operations of the SEC plant. We will also reap the benefits of lower operating costs as we continue to maintain cost efficiency measures,” he added.

Last month, the company reported that its plants continued to provide power to its customers serving over eight million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces in Mindanao even at the height of the enhanced quarantine in March and April.

ACR currently has a portfolio of four power facilities with an aggregate capacity of 468 MW.