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THE country’s largest geothermal energy producer
said its profit last year jumped by a third due to the acquisition
of a number of power plants.
In a repot, Philippine National
Oil Company-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC), which contributes
more than 14 percent of the country’s total power supply, said its
net income rose to P8.65 billion from P6.8 billion in 2006.
Company officials attributed
PNOC-EDC’s higher earnings last year to cost savings resulting
from its acquisition of three plants under build-operate-transfer
agreements, including the 232 megawatt Malitbog, the 180 megawatt
Mahanagdong A & B plants, and the 50 megawatt Optimization plant
from Ormat Inc.
Because of the completion of
these plants’ contracts, PNOC-EDC saved P1 billion from lower
operating expenses. The unabated strengthening of the peso also
allowed PNOC-EDC to realize an increase of over P1 billion in
foreign exchange gains.
The strong peso however pulled
down PNOC-EDC’s net sales to P18.78 billion from P21 billion the
previous year, after the company’s electricity sales, which
accounted for the bulk of its revenues, plunged by P4.5 billion to
P11.2 billion.
Paul A. Aquino, PNOC-EDC
president, said earlier, “while the appreciation of the peso
against the dollar has the effect of lowering our selling prices, it
also reduces the amount of pesos needed to service our foreign
obligations.”
First Gen Corp. of the Lopez
group, through wholly owned unit Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., last
year gained control over PNOC-EDC after winning in an auction that
saw the government giving up its majority stake for P58.5 billion.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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