Philippines’ ACEN net income falls 68% YoY to $7.7m in Q1

This is due to the higher costs of purchased power in the spot market.

Ayala Group listed energy platform ACEN saw a 68% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its net income in the first quarter of 2022 to around $7.7m (P405m) because of the higher costs of purchased power due to higher spot market prices during the major maintenance outage of a thermal plant.

In a statement, Philippines-based ACEN said its revenue rose 29% during the quarter to $141.2m (P7.4b) on the back of its new operating capacitor which includes two solar farms each in the Philippines and India, and several wind facilities in Vietnam.

Despite this, the company’s revenues were also affected by transmission line damage from Typhoon Rai, and prior damage to a major sub-sea cable, reducing its output in the Visayas. Most transmission and distribution lines have already been restored but output reduction is still expected for the 80-megawatt Islasol solar farm until year-end due to reconstruction on the sub-sea cable.

“The company faced significant headwinds in the first quarter from the impact of natural disasters, extended plant outages, and elevated spot purchases,” ACEN Chief Finance Officer & Treasurer Cora G. Dizon said.

“However, we expect these issues to be resolved in the short to medium term, with the full rehabilitation of transmission lines damaged by Typhoon Rai (Odette), and supported by new operating capacity coming online in the next few months,” she added.

The company also said incurred a one-time buyout expense related to a consumer contract.

ACEN’s net income would have reached around $30.5m (P1.6b) during the period and registered a 23% YoY if it were not for the impact of these events.

Its attributable output was up 4% to 1,161 gigawatt-hours, ACEN said, noting that the output increase last year was offset by the effects of the South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation maintenance outage and curtailment in the Visayas.

Meanwhile, the output from international assets jumped by 62%, reducing the impact of the decline in the Philippines’ generation. The contribution of renewables to the company’s output also increased by 52%, bringing its share to 76% of ACEN’s total energy production.

$1 = P52.41