SPNEC books P5.7-b income following entry of Meralco unit

By Jenniffer B. Austria – April 17, 2024, 7:20 pm
from manilastandard.net

Renewable energy firm SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) booked a net income of P5.7 billion in 2023, a sharp turnaround from net loss of P40.4 million recorded a year ago, driven by a recent acquisition.

SPNEC said in a stock exchange filing Wednesday the acquisition of 100-percent interest in Terra Solar Philippines not only increased the company’s net income but also boosted its P51.2-billion assets as of Dec. 31, 2023, up by 825 percent from P5.8 billion in 2022.

Equity also climbed 730 percent to P42.4 billion from P5.8 billion in 2022.

This marks SPNEC’s first financial report following the entry of Manuel Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) in the company.

“The numbers reflect the growth resulting from Meralco’s investment in SPNEC, as it gears up to build the P200 billion Terra Solar project,” SPNEC said.

MGen Renewable Energy (MGreen) acquired a 50.5-percent stake in SPNEC in December 2023 for P15.9 billion.

It also acquired early this year 2.17 billion shares of SPNEC from Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. for P2.5 billion.

MGreen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco Powergen Corp., which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meralco.

SPNEC’s Terra Solar was referred to as the world’s largest solar project, which is targeted to begin operations by 2026.

Terra Solar committed to investing P200 billion to develop 3,500 megawatts (MW) of solar panels and 4,000 megawatt-hours of battery storage in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan.