Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) reported an 8-percent increase in core net income in the first half of 2021 to P11.4 billion from P10.59 billion in the same period in 2020 on higher energy sales volume.
Meralco said energy sales rose 7 percent to 22,663 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 21,139 GWh last year.
It said residential sales volume grew by 3 percent and accounted for 37 percent of total sales volume. Commercial sales volume increased by 0.2 percent and accounted for 33 percent while industrial sales went up by 23 percent, a 30 percent share.
Meralco said residential energy sales volume increased despite the easing of mobility and cooler weather compared to last year as people worked and studied from home.
The recovery of demand from the commercial sector was attributed to the effects of the easing of restrictions on the sectors of retail, restaurants and public transport. Ramp-up in vaccination was also seen to have triggered confidence in the recovery of hotels, dining and casinos.
For the industrial sector, Meralco said demand is back to 2019 levels as semiconductor manufacturing thrived with companies racing to close the gap on global chip shortage.
Production of cement, steel, food, beverage and plastic products also became a factor in the recovery.
Meralco’s customer count reached 7.27 million, a 4 percent increase from 6.94 million in 2020.
Peak demand for the period also went up by 3 percent, hitting 7,808 megawatts (MW) from 7,614 MW, as revenues also experienced an 8 percent growth to P149.1 billion from P138.34 billion in 2020.
Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan in a virtual briefing yesterday expressed optimism of an income growth this year, barring the possible effects of the new coronavirus disease 2019 Delta variant to power consumption.
“We have not given any guidance for the full year because we are quite concerned about the recent spread of the Delta variant which could lead to further lockdowns. That’s a factor that we cannot foresee the impact on sales moving forward,” Pangilinan said.
“We are quite optimistic that profits would be ahead of last year barring unforeseen circumstances,” Pangilinan added.
