Meralco seeks 50 more years of corporate life

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) said on Thursday that it was set to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the amendments to the company’s articles of incorporation seeking to extend its corporate life by another 50 years.

The country’s biggest power distribution utility said the amendments will reflect that the term for which it is to exist is 50 years from May 7, 2019. Its previous corporate term was 50 years from and after May 7, 1969.

The extension, which will amend the fourth article of its incorporation papers, was presented to shareholders during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on May 29, 2018. The stockholders approved the amendment, along with other acts of the board and management.

Meralco said it expects the SEC to approve the amended articles of incorporation on Oct. 31, 2018. The listed company’s bid for an extended corporate life follows the steady growth of its customer base at a compounded annual growth rate of 4.2% from 2013 to 2017. The company ended last year with a customer count of 6.327 million, up 4.8% from 6.038 million in 2016.

Peak demand within Meralco’s franchise area hit 6,973 megawatts in June 2017, up 3.3% from the previous year’s peak. Growth from 2013 to 2017 had been a compounded annual rate of 4.1%.

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 interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.