By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter
POWER distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has exceeded its target energy sales volume growth for 2024, driven by growth across all segments, a high-ranking official said.
“Yes, we exceeded the target,” Ferdinand O. Geluz, senior vice-president and chief revenue officer at Meralco, told BusinessWorld on Tuesday.
He said that Meralco ended the year at 54,325 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of consolidated energy sales, higher by 6.4% than the previous year’s 51,004 GWh, which was attributed to warmer temperatures due to El Niño and sustained customer energizations.
The company surpassed its target energy sales volume of 53,473 GWh for 2024.
Energy sales volume in the residential segment increased by 9.4%, as Meralco’s customer count increased by more than 215,000 customers.
Meralco customers hit eight million as of end-October 2024 compared to 7.79 million a year ago.
The commercial segment saw a 7.3% increase in energy sales volume due to the strong performance of the hotel sector, as well as the restaurant, retail trade, education, and real estate sectors.
The industrial sector, on the other hand, had modest growth of 1.5% on the back of growth in the sectors of semiconductors and electronics, food and beverage, and cement and plastic products.
“The modest growth from these sectors more than offset the continuous decline in the steel sector, placing the industrial sector in the positive as a whole,” said Mr. Geluz.
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. The company expects to surpass its P43-billion profit target for the year on the back of strong performance from its units.
For 2025, Meralco has planned to allocate a P25-billion capital expenditure budget to fund the company’s storm-hardening program along with other distribution network upgrades, expansion, and modernization.
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.
