Aboitiz Power braces for ‘new normal’

CEBU, Philippines —  Realizing that the coronavirus pandemic will bring a drastic change in all aspects, much more in business, the Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) prepares its organization to adapt to the new normal.

“We will [also] continue to adapt to the constantly changing business climate due to the pandemic situation and make further adjustments when necessary, to sustain the business while providing the much-needed support for our stakeholders,” said Emmanuel V. Rubio, AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer.

The company recorded a consolidated net income of P2.1 billion for the first quarter of 2020, lower than the P3.6 billion recorded in the same period last year.

AboitizPower recognized non-recurring losses of P27 million during the period, lower than the P440 million in non-recurring losses recorded during the same period last year. Without these one-off losses, core net income for the first quarter of 2020 was P2.1 billion.

This was mostly due to the decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), coupled with additional taxes from the Income Tax Holiday expirations of Therma South and GNPower Mariveles power plants, and the additional interest expense from the parent bond and loan that were taken up late last year.

AboitizPower’s performance was also affected by outages in Therma South and GNPower Mariveles, and lower selling prices, which mitigated the fresh contributions of Therma Visayas and decreased purchased power costs.

“With the additional capacities in our portfolio, we have fortified our bench and have further strengthened governance across different parts of the business,” Rubio explained.

AboitizPower’s generation and retail supply business recorded consolidated EBITDA of P7.4 billion in the first quarter of 2020, lower than the P8.6 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Capacity sold for the first quarter of 2020 increased to 3,445 megawatts (MW) from 2,947 MW in the same period last year.

AboitizPower’s distribution business recorded consolidated EBITDA of P2.1 billion, higher than the P1.9 billion recorded last year. Energy sales increased to 1,429 gigawatt-hours (GWh) during the first three months of 2020 from 1,343 GWh in the first quarter of 2019. This was driven by higher energy consumption from the residential and commercial customer segments, and growth in the number of customers from the industrial segment.

AboitizPower is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution, and retail electricity services. It advances business and communities by providing reliable and ample power supply at a reasonable and competitive price, and with the least adverse effects on the environment and host communities.

The company is one of the largest power producers in the Philippines with a balanced portfolio of assets located across the country. It is a major producer of Cleanergy, its brand for clean and renewable energy with several hydroelectric, geothermal, and solar power generation facilities. It also has various thermal power plants in its generation portfolio to support the baseload and peak energy demands of the country.

It owns distribution utilities that operate in high-growth areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including the second and third largest private utilities in the country.