Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) sees higher profit this year and eyes to expand its assets in Singapore.
Meralco reported it grew its net income in the first six months of the year by 37 percent to P18.34 billion from P13.36 billion for the same period in 2022.
It reported a 13 percent increase in revenues to P224.98 billion from P199.61 billion.
Meralco attributed the growth to increased contribution from the record-high energy sales volume.
The company’s consolidated energy sales six months into the year was up by 3.4 percent to 24,792 gigawatt hours (GWh) from last year’s 23,968 GWh.
Meralco’s customer count for the period also grew by 2.6 percent to 7.72 million against last year’s 7.52 million, with peak demand hitting 8.4 GW, up by 4.1 percent from the previous 8.11 GW.
The company expects to post a record net income for full year 2023, said Manuel Pangilinan, Meralco chairman and chief executive officer.
Pangilinan said Meralco profits this year may reach “north of P30 billion,” way ahead than full year 2022’s P27.1 billion.
He added Meralco, through affiliate firm PacificLight, is eyeing additional power assets in Singapore.
“We are already in discussion with the government of Singapore about RE (renewable energy). They started the process for the initial 100 megawatts (MW) of solar. We are in discussion with Salim Group regarding this. We will built a plant connecting to Singapore,” Pangilinan said.
The government of Singapore is seeking bidders for natural gas capacity at a minimum of 600 MW each, he said.
Pangilinan said natural gas power plants are currently priced at $1 million per MW.
“Our size is only about 800 MW and we will certainly take a serious look at participating,” Pangilinan said.
