Pagbilao, Bukidnon plants help fuel AboitizPower’s P1.3B income growth in 2018

Hedcor Bukidnon Inc., an AboitizPower subsidiary and hydro power plant which has went online in 2018 has contributed to AboitizPower’s continued income growth. |Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — AboitizPower, Aboitiz Group’s holding company for investments in power generation, distribution, and retail electricity services, partly attributed the company’s P1.3 billion income growth in 2018 to the firm’s Pagbilao power plant and Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon’s hydro plant — Pagbilao Energy Corp. (PEC) and Hedcor Bukidnon, Inc.

This after AboitizPower recorded a net income of P21.7 billion in 2018, which is 6 percent higher than the previous year’s net income of P20.4 billion.

“We were able to sustain our growth with the entry of new capacities from our baseload power plant in Pagbilao, as well as our hydro plant in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon and our efforts to continuously improve the availability and reliability of our generation assets,” Emmanuel V. Rubio, AboitizPower chief operating officer, said in a statement.

Non-recurring losses of P2.1 billion were recognized, without which, core net income for 2018 was P23.8 billion, which is 2 percent higher YoY (year-on-year). 

AboitizPower recorded consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of P51.5 billion for 2018, 8 percent higher compared to the P47.7 billion recorded in 2017.

Generation and retail electricity supply

AboitizPower’s generation and retail electricity supply business also recorded a consolidated EBITDA of P43 billion in 2018, 8 percent higher than the P39.7 billion recorded in the previous year. Performance was primarily driven by the fresh contributions from Pagbilao Energy Corp. (PEC) and Hedcor Bukidnon, Inc.

Capacity sold during the year was flat YoY, from 3,167 megawatts (MW) in 2017 to 3,152 MW in 2018.

“With our increased economic stake in the GNPower Mariveles and Dinginin projects, we are confident that we will surpass our target of 4,000 MW net attributable capacity by 2020. These growth opportunities are all driven by our commitment to balance the needs of our customers in terms of the reliability, cost-efficiency, and environmental sustainability of the country’s power supply,” Rubio said.

Distribution

For 2018, AboitizPower’s distribution business recorded consolidated EBITDA of P8.2 billion, 6 percent higher than the P7.8 billion recorded in 2017. 

The company alsp saw the energy sales increase to 5,540 gigawatt-hours (GWh), which was 5 percent higher than the 5,288 GWh recorded in 2017. 

According to AboitizPower’s statement, that this was the result of increased consumption levels across all customer segments. 

“Our distribution business also continues to expand as we deliver world-class service to our close to one million customers within our growing franchise areas and emerging economic zones,” Rubio said. /PR