The financial performance of utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) logged hefty growth in the first half, with its core net income climbing 82 percent to P5.8 billion from last year’s P3.2 billion, clearly indicating that the worst must have been over for the controversy-ridden power distribution firm.

The company likewise noted that its reported net income jumped 51 percent to P4.8 billion from P3.2 billion last year, attributed mainly to sudden surge in demand.

The firm’s core earnings per share have been pegged at P5.15 for the period; while reported earnings per share amounted to P4.30.

There have been very strong performance in the industrial sector, primarily in the semiconductor segment in the first half, according to Meralco senior executive vice president and COO Oscar S. Reyes; and such feat was trailed by the food sector and propped up further by other sectors such as real estate, trade and telecommunications, among others.

Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said “we will build on our excellent financial discipline, capitalizing on our long-term capabilities and building from our strength by expanding into power generation and allied businesses. We are looking at a number of opportunities given our very healthy cash position and low gearing.”

He added that at this point “we’re maintaining our guidance number of P11 billion on core net income for the entire year. Given the fact that Meralco has some robust performance, typically in an average year, 60 percent in energy sales are derived in the first half and 40 percent in the second half, we anticipate energy sales to move up in the second half, so it will drive the revenue and profit picture in that way.”

The utility firm added the consolidated volume of energy sold in the first six months was 14 percent higher to 14,950 gigawatt hours (GWhs) as compared to volume sales in the period last year.

Despite the overall increase in generation charge throughout the six-month stretch, mainly propelled by higher prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the utility firm noted that sales still went up due to higher demand, especially among industrial end-users.

“The profit improvements reflect the significantly higher volume of energy sold with the surge in demand by all customer classes, led by the industrial sector,” Reyes noted.