Lopez holding company reduces losses, sells assets
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/14/2008 11:32 PM
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First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC), the holding company of the Lopez family, posted P123 million profits in the third quarter, reducing its net loss by end-September to P272 million.
In the first half of 2008, FPHC realized a net loss of P395 million as higher finance charges and foreign exchange losses affected its and the subsidiaries' foreign currency-denominated loans.
The company, however, performed better in the third quarter, pushing consolidated revenues for the nine-month period to P64.8 billion, higher by 45% compared to the same period last year.
"The upsurge was mainly driven by higher fuel and capacity revenue charges of the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo Power Plants of First Gen Corporation, a major First Holdings subsidiary, as well as the revenue contribution of its newly acquired company, Energy Development Corporation," the company said.
However, this was tempered by a 41 percent surge in consolidated costs and expenses that aggregated to P46.3 billion compared to last year. This was attributed to higher fuel costs incurred by First Gen, and an increase in EDC-related operations and maintenance expenses.
FPHC hopes to keep its finances in check at the end of the year with the sale of its stake in First Philippine Infrastructure, Inc., which is the corporate vehicle for its tollroad business, to Metro Pacific Investments Inc.
FPHC will receive P6.2 billion as sale proceeds.
