Sarangani power biz propels Alsons Q3 income

MANILA — Alsons Consolidated Resources, Inc.’s (ACR) reported a 15.2-percent rise in net earnings for the first nine months of 2017 to P274.48 million from P238.09 million in the same period in 2016.

ACR indicated that the increase was propelled by the robust revenue growth in the operations of the first 105-megawatt (MW) section of the company’s 210-MW coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani Province under Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the publicly-listed firm of the Alcantara Group also reported a 6.9-percent increase in parent-attributable net earnings to P117.66 million from P110.04 million in the same period last year.

The company’s consolidated revenues for the period were up 6.7 percent at P5.22 billion in the first three quarters this year from P4.88 billion a year ago.

ACR’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) surged to P1.28 billion in the three-quarter period, or 73.8-percent higher from P718 million in the same period last year.

The company’s EBITDA margin for the period likewise improved to 35 percent from 23 percent in 2016.

The Sarangani power plant began operating its first 105 MW section in April 2016, providing baseload power to over three million residents of the provinces of Sarangani, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur; General Santos, Iligan, and Butuan cities; and other major population centers of Mindanao.

In January this year, SEC began construction of the plant’s second 105-MW section, estimated to be completed in 2019.

An additional three million residents in South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Cagayan de Oro, and other key areas in Mindanao are set to benefit from the additional 105 MW from the Sarangani power plant.

At a cost of nearly USD600 million, the SEC power plant is the largest power investment in Sarangani Province and the entire Region 12.

In addition to the Sarangani plant, SEC is also developing the 105 MW San Ramon Power, Inc. (SRPI) coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City, which is scheduled for commercial operations in 2021, providing baseload power to Zamboanga City and other nearby areas.

Before the end of 2017, ACR will commence construction of the P3.7 billion 15.1-MW run-of-river hydroelectric power project at the Siguil River basin in Maasim, Sarangani Province, which will mark ACR’s entry into the renewable energy (RE) sphere.

The Siguil hydro power plant is expected to begin commercial operations within the first half of 2020 and will provide power to Sarangani Province, General Santos City, and key municipalities of South Cotabato.

“We look forward to an exciting year ahead of us, as by the middle of 2018, we will have three projects under construction simultaneously: SEC section 2, which we expect to begin operating in 2019; Siguil Hydro, which will start operations in 2020; and SRPI, which is targeting to commence operations in 2021,” said ACR executive vice president Tirso G. Santillan.

“With the addition of these three projects to our power generation portfolio, ACR-affiliated power facilities will have around 588 MW of generating capacity, approximately 25 percent of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand in 2021,” Santillan added.