MANILA - The holding company of the Lopez group said that it has not yet offered to sell its remaining stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to any group, including San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

"We have not offered our remaining Meralco shares to any group," First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) Vice President Benjamin Lopez said.

Earlier on Monday, SMC said it is interested to broaden its ownership in Meralco by acquiring the group's remaining 13.4% stake in the country's biggest power distributor. According to SMC President Ramon Ang, the company would partner with a Japanese group, which he did not name, to bid for the Lopezes' Meralco shares in a deal that could be worth as much as P40 billion.

But as far as they are concerned, Lopez said Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) had first rights on FPHC's Meralco shares. "PLDT has the right of first refusal on FPHC's shares of Meralco."

The PLDT group said it controls about 48% of the power utility, together with some business partners and the remaining stake held by FPHC.

SMC, on the other hand, currently has a direct 27% stake in Meralco which it bought for over $600 million last year. The company said it controls a total of about 43% in Meralco through holdings of its business allies.

Higher distribution charges

Earlier, Meralco disclosed plans to raise its distribution charge by an average of 27 centavos per kilowatthour under the performance-based rate (PBR) mechanism. Under the PBR, Meralco can update its distribution charge every year on account of inflation rate and foreign exchange movements.

In its application for a provisional authority to increase its distribution charge under the PBR last week, Meralco said it needed to adjust its rates to fund its capital expenditures.

Meralco has proposed a distribution rate of P1.1858 per kWh for customers consuming 201 to 300 kWh per month from 87.65 centavos per kWh (based on July figures), or an increase of 30.93 centavos per kWh.

On the other hand, Meralco has suggested a rate of 58.30 centavos per kWh for supply charges, and 41.80 centavos per kWh for metering charges. These translate to increases of 05.59 centavos and 17.35 centavos per kWh, respectively.

The Energy Regulatory Commission has earlier granted Meralco a maximum allowable price (MAP) of P1.2227 per kWh in April under the PBR. This has resulted to an increase in Meralco's distribution charge of 25 centavos per kWh. With a report from Reuters