Meralco on track to hit P50-B core earnings goal

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), led by billionaire Manuel V. Pangilinan, remains on track to achieve its P50-billion core income goal this year despite the sluggish growth of its distribution business.

In a media briefing on Monday, Meralco chair Pangilinan said that while the group’s distribution unit would still be one of the drivers, growth may be slower than in 2024.

The “biggest” growth, he noted, would come from the generation business as proven by its strong performance in the first half.

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Pangilinan is confident that Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) will see stronger momentum, as it leads the development of big power plants, including the P200-billion solar facility in Luzon.

“While energy sales volume growth has been lower than anticipated, we remain on track to meet our overall targets as power generation is expected to deliver higher-than-expected performance, offsetting the anticipated slower demand growth,” the tycoon said.

“The biggest driver of CCNI (consolidated core net income) is the generation business. Now, there will be more generation capacities that could come in steam starting 2026,” he said.

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Meralco reported that its consolidated core profit in the first semester had improved by 10 percent to P25.5 billion from P23.2 billion.

Six-month net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent firm rose by 5 percent to P23.63 billion.

Its distribution business had provided the biggest contribution at P13.7 billion; followed by the power generation business at P9.4 billion; and retail electricity supply and nonelectricity business at P2.4 billion.

In terms of sales volume, its distribution utility business only inched up by 0.5 percent to 27,091 gigawatt hours (gWh).

Its power generation realized a 66-percent surge in sales volume, hitting 12,644 gWh.

The significant jump in MGen’s contribution was attributed to its participation in the reserve market, investment in Chromite Gas Holdings Inc., the activation of a 100-megawatt plant in Singapore and the higher plant availability across its portfolio.

“From thermal and LNG (liquefied natural gas) to renewables and battery storage, we are scaling up investments that push our growth and profitability forward...,” said MGen president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio.

(2025/07/29-02:06)

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