THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recorded a 17-percent jump in its core net income in the first nine months of the year to P35.1 billion from P30.02 billion in the same period in 2023.
In a briefing yesterday, Meralco said its consolidated revenues increased 6 percent to P355.4 billion from P335.2 billion last year.
Meralco attributed the growth to consistent increase in sales volumes and higher contributions from the power generation and retail electricity supply businesses.
Consolidated energy sales rose 7 percent to 40,872 gigawatt hours (GWh) from the previous year’s 38,164 GWh with increases recorded across all customer segments.
The esidential segment maintained a double-digit growth of 10 percent to 14,758 GWh from 13,363 GWh driven by sustained energization of new accounts and higher per capita consumption.
Commercial sales volumes went up 8 percent to 15,261 GWh from 14,122 GWh last year, despite the exit of locators of offshore gaming operations and the continuing remote work arrangements.
Sales from the industrial sector posted a 2 percent increase to 10,743 GWh from 10,570 GWh due to the increase in production lines of plastics, food and beverage industries.
The commercial segment had the biggest share of 37 percent in the energy sales mix while residential and industrial accounted for 36 percent and 26 percent.
The company’s customer count for the period also reached 7.99 million, a 3 percent increase against last year’s 7.77 million.
Manuel Pangilinan, Meralco chairman and chief executive officer, said with the strong performance for the first nine months of the year, the company will likely exceed the P43 billion income guidance for full year 2024.
This is Meralco’s second upgrade for its income guidance for this year which was originally set at P40 billion.