ACEN Corp., the energy platform of the Ayala Group, said Thursday its consolidated net income reached P6.6 billion in the first nine months, up 59 percent year-on-year, boosted by gains from the Salak and Darajat geothermal plants sell-down.
ACEN said in a statement consolidated revenues for January to September increased 13 percent year-on-year to P28.6 billion on the back of higher retail customer tariffs and the ramp-up of New England Solar in Australia and Pagudpud wind project in the Philippines.
“The company continues its healthy growth trajectory, notwithstanding delays in the major renewable projects. We hope to begin commercial operations of around 700 MW [megawatts] of solar and wind projects in the Philippines before the summer of 2024,” ACEN president and chief executive Eric Francia said.
Total attributable renewables output showed double-digit growth, rising 27 percent to 3,174 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first nine months as the company continued to add new operating capacity in its global portfolio.
Renewables generation from Philippine operations rose 29 percent to 769 GWh with continued commissioning at the 44-MW second phase of the Arayat-Mexico solar farm and the 160 MW Pagudpud wind farm, the largest in the country.
ACEN’s international portfolio generated 2,405 GWh from January to September, a 27-percent rise year-on-year, as New England Solar in New South Wales, Australia nears full capacity.
Newly contributing to output in the third quarter were the 420-MW Masaya Solar farm in Madhya Pradesh, India and the 287-MW first phase of ACEN’s acquisition of 49 percent of Solar NT in Vietnam, a joint venture with Thailand’s SUPER Energy.
“Our strategy to diversify our funding sources, with the issuance of the first peso-denominated fixed-for-life preferred shares, further strengthened the company’s financial position in support of its renewables capacity expansion,” ACEN chief financial officer Cora Dizon said.
ACEN said higher core operating earnings, which represent ACEN’s attributable share of income from operating units, offset higher overhead and development expenses for the period as the company continues to ramp up its renewables expansion.