Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recorded a 14 percent decline in its core net income in the first half of 2020 to P10.6 billion compared to the previous year’s P12.3 billion on lower energy sales volume for the period.
Meralco’s energy sales fell 7 percent to with 21,139 gigawatt hours (GWh) from the previous year’s 22,823 GWh.
The company said residential sales volume grew 14 percent and accounted for 38 percent of total sales volume. Commercial and industrial sales volume dropped by 17 percent and accounted for 35 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
Meralco said residential energy sales volume will normalize at lower levels with the start of the rainy season but work from home arrangements and shift to online classes will offset the downtrend.
In a virtual briefing, Victor Genuino, Meralco first vice president , said the company expects commercial sales volume to rise again with more businesses allowed to resume operations including the business process outsourcing sector, financial activities, personal care establishments, restaurants as well as Philippine offshore gaming operators.
Customer count reached 6.94 million in the half, a 3 percent increase against last year’s 6.74 million.
However, its peak demand for the period hit 7,614 megawatts (MW), lower by 2 percent from 7,740 MW with revenues also experiencing a 14 percent reduction to P142.25 billion from P164.9 billion in 2019.
Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said “based on our outlook for the rest of the year, we expect our full year 2020 CCNI (consolidated core net income) to be in the area of P21 billion.”
