LOPEZ-LED First Gen Corp. posted a third-quarter net income of $65.31 million, down by 2.4% from $66.89 million a year ago, after its natural gas-fired power plants suffered reduced income.
In a media release on Monday, First Gen President and Chief Operating Officer Francis Giles B. Puno said the company’s natural gas platform continues to be affected by the supply reduction from the Malampaya gas field, prompting it to use more costly liquid fuel.
In the third quarter, revenues went up by 30.9% to $721.92 million from $551.62 million in the same period last year.
For the nine-month period, First Gen’s net income declined by 12.1% to $187.62 million from $213.41 million due to the lower contributions of its San Gabriel and Santa Rita power plants.
San Gabriel’s net income share decreased by 76.3% to $4.1 million from $17.4 million due to lower capacity fees on the back of decreased gas supply from Malampaya. Santa Rita’s net income contribution decreased by 7.4% to $83.1 million from $89.7 million.
Meanwhile, First Gen’s revenues for the nine-month period increased to $2 billion from $1.61 million driven by the higher electricity sales. In peso terms, the power generation company’s revenues went up by 34.7% to P105.2 billion from P78.1 billion.
Higher revenues from electricity sales were due to elevated fuel and prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the company said.
First Gen’s natural gas portfolio accounted for 65% of its total consolidated revenues, while 31% came from Energy Development Corp’s geothermal, wind, and solar plants. The remaining 4% came from the hydro plants.
Its natural gas platform reported a 12.9% decrease in recurring earnings to $142 million in the nine-month period from $163 million in the same period last year.
On Monday, shares in the company declined by 18 centavos or 1.18% to close at P15.02 apiece. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
