ACEN Corp., the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, said Tuesday net income last year stood at P7.4 billion, down 43 percent from 2022 when bottomline included P8.6 billion in gains from various accounting adjustments.
Statutory revenues, comprised of the consolidated Philippine and Australian businesses, rose 4 percent to P36.5 billion, while operating income jumped 81 percent to P8.1 billion. Core operating earnings, which excludes overhead and development expenses and net financing costs at the parent level, tripled to P4.9 billion on higher renewable capacity and generation output.
ACEN said new operating capacity, stronger wind and solar generation, the resolution of plant curtailments, and a strong net merchant selling position at the Philippines’ Wholesale Electricity Spot Market drove earnings last year.
The listed renewable energy company booked P4.5 billion in gains, inclusive of P3.4 billion in remeasurements, from the Salak & Darajat partial sale in the third quarter. But this was offset by a P2.0 billion impairment of the India platform due to the impact of cost overruns and project delays.In the fourth quarter alone, operating income surged 38 percent to P1.9 billion as new capacity came on stream in the Philippines, Australia and India last year. ACEN posted consolidated net income of P830 million in the fourth quarter, also lower due to accounting adjustments.
At the end of 2023, ACEN now carries over 4.7 gigaWatt in attributable capacity, 99 percent of which is from renewables. Of this, 37 percent is now fully operational, 28 percent is already partially operating and 35 percent remains under construction.
During the year, several new solar and wind farms were added to the company’s portfolio, including the 60 megaWatt Pangasinan Solar and 300 MW Palauig 2 Solar in the Philippines, the 38 MW Stockyard Wind in the US, the 600 MW Monsoon Wind in Lao PDR, and the first phase of ACEN’s acquisition of SUPER Energy’s Solar NT platform in Vietnam.
