First Gen earnings up 29% in January-March

MANILA, Philippines — Net income of Lopez-led First Gen Corp. rose by 28.9 percent in the first three months of the year, to P4.04 billion, helped by new contracts secured last year and lower expenses.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange First Gen said recurring net income went up 21 percent to P3.8 billion.

The company attributed the improvement to new contracts, as well as lower operating and interest expenses.

“The year 2021 is looking to be a better year, although we recognize that the recent surge and newly imposed lockdowns has made recovery slower,” First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said in a statement.

First Gen’s natural gas platform delivered a 35 percent increase in recurring earnings from P2 billion ($39 million) to P2.5 billion ($52 million). From an attributable net income to parent of P2 billion in the first 90 days of 2020, the gas platform increased to P2.8 billion in the first quarter.

The 97-megawatt (MW) Avion power plant enjoyed higher electricity sales due to its ancillary services procurement agreement (ASPA) that commenced in June 2020, while the other natural gas-fired plants reaped the benefits of lower income tax rates under the new CREATE Law.

These were slightly offset by the 420-MW San Gabriel power plant’s lower generation.

Renewable energy arm Energy Development Corp. (EDC) contributed recurring attributable earnings from its geothermal, wind, and solar platform of P1.3 billion, four percent higher than the previous year.

In terms of attributable net income, EDC contributed P1.3 billion during the period, relatively flat from last year.

EDC was able to save on expenses and interest costs during the quarter while the Energy Regulatory Commission’s feed-in tariff rate adjustments from 2016 to 2020 for the Burgos wind and solar projects that took effect in November 2020 resulted in an increase in the company’s 2021 first quarter revenues.