Meralco posts 5% electricity sales in first 9 months

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recorded a 5-percent increase in electricity sales from January to September this year as against the same period a year ago.

Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo Panlilio said on Monday the utility firm sold 32,530 gigawatt-hours at end-September this year, up 5 percent from last year.

He attributed the growth in electricity sales to the company’s “strong first-half” results, which posed a 14-percent increase in earnings to P11.97 billion at end-June this year.

From January to June this year, electricity sales went up by 6.5 percent to 21,665 GW.

Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said 2018 is going to be “a better year than 2017.”

“So far, apart from economic conditions, there’s no reason Meralco should not perform better,” Pangilinan had said.

Pangilinan noted that during the second half of the year, the economy continues to expand, boosted by strong consumer spending and the growth in the service industry, and even the industrial sectors. Also, the ramping up of government infrastructure projects is expected to further lift the country’s growth prospects.

“Consumer wallets continue to expand as money sent home by overseas Filipinos continue to grow, as well as from employment generated by BPOs and POGOs. These have continued to drive the growth of commercial and residential-energy sales volumes. However, economic headwinds from higher fuel and commodity prices, higher exchange and interest rates, and inflation remind us to remain vigilant and cautious about our own growth targets, investments and spending,” he said.

The utility firm also registered 6.5 million customers by end-June, almost five percent higher, as new connections across all customer classes increased by 294,000 year-on-year.