MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) expects to exceed its sales growth target this year, driven by the residential and commercial segments, according to a high-ranking official.
The company had set a target energy sales volume of 53,473 gigawatt-hours (GWh) this year — 4.8% higher than in 2023 — but it now expects year-end sales at 54,259 GWh or 6.3% growth, Ferdinand O. Geluz, senior vice-president and chief revenue officer at the power distributor, said in a Viber message last week.
“We may surpass our sales volume target for the year by close to 800 GWh,” he said. “Sustained new account energization brought in additional sales, as we surpassed eight million customers in the fourth quarter.”
Energy sales are expected to increase in the commercial sector as retail, real estate, hotels, and leisure businesses continued to expand, he added.
Contributing to the growth in both residential and commercial sectors were the higher per capita consumption due to El Niño.
Meanwhile, industrial sales were flat as the modest increase in semiconductor, food and beverage, and plastic industries were offset by a decline in steel and wheeling from embedded generation.
Meralco’s distribution business accounted for 59% or P20.5 billion of its core net income in the first nine months of 2024, which grew 17% to P35.1 billion.
Meralco expects to surpass its P43-billion profit target for the year on the back of strong performance from its units, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan earlier told a news briefing.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — S.J. Talavera
