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PHILIPPINE National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp.
(PNOC-EDC) said its profits last year plunged by about a third,
citing lower foreign-exchange gains.
PNOC-EDC said that its net income
dipped 31.6 percent to P6.78 billion. Most of the obligations of the
country’s largest geothermal energy producer are pegged in foreign
currency.
The company said that payment of
its debt, fees and major materials and services were denominated in
dollars and yen. The company said its forex gains reached P2.88
billion as against P6.41 billion in 2005.
The company’s net sales went
down by 2.6 percent to P21 billion due to a reduction in billed
volume for electricity sales.
Sales of electricity had
decreased by 4.4 percent to P15.72 billion because of a decline in
average inflation indices by P0.0992 kilowatt-hour, as the peso
appreciated against the dollar, and a decrease in billed volume by
71 gigawatt-hours owing to the landslide that affected the Mindanao
I and II plants in August and the reduction of nominated energy
within National Power Corp.’s financial capacity for Leyte
starting July.
A drilling contract with Lihir
Management Corp. in Papua New Guinea resulted in a 75-percent
increase in sales of the company’s drilling services to P261
million.
PNOC-EDC announced that its board
has approved a cash dividend of P0.099 per share to stockholders of
record as of May 15, 2007, payable on June 6, 2007.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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