MANILA, Philippines — Higher electricity sales, as well as lower interest expenses and taxes, powered up the nine-month recurring net income of Lopez-led First Gen Corp.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, First Gen said its recurring net income attributable to equity holders reached P10.3 billion ($212 million) as of end-September versus last year’s P9.6 billion ($190 million).
The company attributed the improvement to higher electricity sales led by the 97-megawatt (MW) Avion natural gas-fired power plant and the lower interest expenses and taxes due to the recently enacted Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
Its consolidated revenues from the sale of electricity went up by 18 percent from P68.6 billion ($1.36 billion) to P78.1 billion ($1.61 billion).
The natural gas portfolio accounted for 59 percent of First Gen’s total consolidated revenues. The geothermal, wind, and solar revenues of Energy Development Corp. (EDC) accounted for 35 percent of the total, while First Gen Hydro Power Corp. accounted for four percent.
“Our clean and renewable energy platforms generated higher revenues for the nine months of 2021 as power demand recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Revenue growth also reflected the higher fuel commodity prices experienced all over the world,” First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said.
First Gen’s natural gas platform delivered a 20 percent increase in recurring earnings from P6.8 billion ($135 million) to P7.9 billion ($163 million).
The Avion power plant benefitted from high electricity sales in the early part of the year as it supplied the grid with supplemental power during constraint periods.
“However, one of its units was discovered to have incurred a damage in its gas compressor last August after a routine inspection. The unit was quickly replaced and restored to full commercial operation by late October,” the firm said.
The older natural gas-fired plants, the 1,000-MW Santa Rita and the 500 MW San Lorenzo, also reaped the benefits of lower income tax rates under the CREATE Law.
However, the higher sales and impact of lower income tax were partially offset by higher taxes paid by San Gabriel as its income tax holiday expired in March 2020.
EDC contributed P3 billion ($62 million) in recurring attributable earnings from its geothermal, wind, and solar platform this year, six percent lower than the P3.3 billion ($66 million) booked last year.
Despite generating higher revenues, EDC incurred higher power plant and steam field maintenance expenses this year, which were partly offset by lower interest expenses and income taxes.