MANILA, Philippines - Power generation company First Gen Corp. said on Thursday its first half net profit, grew nearly three times from a year ago to $50 million.

Its consolidated revenues rose by 24% to $655.4 million from $526.3 million in the first half of 2009.

The company attributed its improved first half performance to higher electricity sales of its 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita and the 500-MW San Lorenzo gas-fired power plants, which generated a 16% increase in income from the year before at $599.1 million.

First Gen said that its earnings in the first 6 months were also backed by the improved performance of its units.

Energy Development Corp. contributed $36.5 million to First Gen's bottomline, while First Gen Hydro Power Corp. plunked in $17.9 million, a hefty rise from $3 million last year and this was largely due to better prices in the wholesale electric spot market.

Another affiliate, Red Vulcan Holdings Corp.also benefitted from a deleveraging program with the P15 billion rights offering of First Gen in January this year. The outstanding debt of Red Vulcan fell by 40% to P8.3 billion from P13.8 billion in the first half of 2010, resulting ina a $3.2 million reduction in interest expense.