AboitizPower sees stronger second half on new capacities, contracts

ABOITIZ POWER CORP. (AboitizPower) expects stronger earnings in the second half (H2) of the year as new power capacities and contracts begin to contribute to revenues.

“We continue to keep the reliability of our plants, it’s a high priority, and are optimistic that we can bring up plant availability,” AboitizPower Chief Financial Officer Sandro Aboitiz said at a recent earnings results briefing.

New contracts with a total capacity of 800 megawatts (MW) are expected to be delivered within the third quarter, which will start contributing to higher margins, he said.

Mr. Aboitiz also cited ancillary service procurement agreements that recently secured final approval, which carry higher rates.

“We’re also hopeful that we will be able to retroactively recover the difference in the rates when the time we started delivering those contracts. And because the final approval just came in July, we’ll now start to see the impact of that in the second half financials,” he said.

Further, the company is expecting better results with the full operation of all three units of Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. (EERI), which is jointly owned by subsidiaries of AboitizPower, Manila Electric Co., and San Miguel Global Holdings Corp.

For the first six months of the year, AboitizPower’s attributable net income fell by 26% to P12.67 billion from P17.13 billion a year ago.

Operating revenues declined by 8% to P100.24 billion due to lower power generation and fuel costs.

This year, the company has earmarked a capital expenditure budget of P78.1 billion, with 66% allocated for its renewable energy portfolio.

AboitizPower serves as the Aboitiz Group’s investment arm for power generation, distribution, retail electricity, and related energy solutions.

The company aims to expand its total attributable net sellable capacity to 9.2 gigawatts by 2030, with a 50:50 balance between renewable and thermal energy sources. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera