ACEN Corp. said Thursday that net income last year reached P13.1 billion, more than double the P5.25 billion the listed energy unit of the Ayala Group reported in 2021 because of revaluation gains as well as court-mandated provisions and a project in Vietnam.
Net income in 2022 included P8.6 billion of net impact in revaluation gains resulting from ACEN’s full acquisition of the Australia platform, as well as provisions for a Supreme Court decision voiding the Philippine Electricity Market Corp.’s administered/regulated pricing regime, and for the Lac Hoa & Hoa Dong Wind project in Vietnam.
Group revenues last year was up 35 percent to P35.2 billion, mainly driven by full-year contributions from new Philippine merchant plants.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, which includes ACEN’s share of EBITDA from non-consolidated associates and joint ventures, was 5 percent lower at only P14.3 billion in 2022 due to high cost of power on account of net merchant buying at elevated spot market prices and typhoon-related curtailment.
Contributions from International operations offset the decline, as EBITDA rose 20 percent to P9.5 billion, driven by new operating capacity in Vietnam and India.
Total attributable output rose 7 percent to around 5,000 gigawatt-hours, owing to the company’s new international assets, which contributed over 2,500 GWh, up 30 percent from the previous year. Full-year contributions from newly operational Vietnam wind farms and India solar farms drove the growth in generation.
“With 700 megawatts in new capacity expected to come online in the Philippines by the end of the year, and another 521 MW of new capacity commencing operations in Australia, we expect to move into a net selling merchant position and be on a stronger footing in 2023,” said Eric Francia, ACEN president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
ACEN has approximately 4,000 MW of attributable renewables capacity in operation and under construction across the Philippines and the region. It accelerated its expansion in 2022, spending P50.6 billion for capital expenditures as it started construction of over 1,300 MW of new solar and wind farms in the Philippines, Australia, and India.
New projects under construction include the 520-MW Stubbo Solar farm in Australia, its second project in the country. With more than 1,000 MW in construction, Australia is currently ACEN’s largest market outside of the Philippines.
ACEN currently has more than 2,400 MW of projects under construction and expects to spend between P50 to P70 billion for capital expenditures this year to grow its renewable energy portfolio and move closer to achieving 20 GW in renewable energy capacity by 2030.
