First Gen profit hits $118.8M in Q1

LOPEZ-led First Gen Group generated a consolidated net income of $118.8 million in the first quarter of the year, a 22.8-percent increase from $96.8 million posted in the same period last year.

In a disclosure, First Gen said net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company went up by 28.9 percent to $84 million from $65.2 million yearon-year.

The company attributed the significant increase in earnings to the operations of its 3,495-megawatt clean, low-carbon and renewable portfolio.

Consolidated revenues from the sale of electricity, however, were flat at P23.2 billion ($483 million), 0.3-percent lower from P24.4 billion ($481 million) in the first quarter of 2020.

During the three-month period, the energy firm’s natural gas portfolio accounted for 55 percent of First Gen’s total consolidated revenues. Meanwhile, its subsidiary Energy Development Corp.’s (EDC) geothermal, wind, and solar revenues accounted for 40 percent of First Gen’s total consolidated revenues. The hydro plants accounted for 5 percent of total consolidated revenues.

“The year 2021 is looking to be a better year, although we recognize that the recent surge and newly- imposed lockdowns has made recovery slower. Nonetheless, we want to move forward and work on projects that will support the economy and increase employment,” First Gen President and

Chief Operating Officer Francis Giles Puno said.

“The construction of the country’s first LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal is underway and, at First Gen, we are studying our roster of growth projects so that they can be ready by the time our country has recovered,” he added.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization or Ebitda grew by 6.4 percent to $210 million in the first quarter of 2021.