MANILA, Philippines — Power giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has trimmed its growth forecast for full-year 2025 energy sales amid cooler weather conditions and persistent market challenges.
Following flattish results in the first half, Meralco chief revenue officer Ferdinand Geluz said the 2025 power sales forecast was revised to one to two percent from four to 4.5 percent previously.
“The downgrade in our energy sales forecast stems mainly from industry, weather and macroeconomic factors,” Geluz said.
In the first half, Meralco’s electricity sales marginally grew to 27,091 gigawatt-hours from the same period last year’s 26,954 GWh, which was fueled by the El Niño phenomenon.
Of the total energy sales, the commercial segment accounted for the largest share at 37 percent, as sustained expansion in wholesale and retail outlets offset the impact of lower real estate occupancy rates.
Residential and industrial segments, meanwhile, contributed 36 percent and 26 percent of the total sales mix.
Notwithstanding this, Meralco chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan was expecting the company’s earnings to reach at least P50 billion by year-end.
Pangilinan was counting on the performance of Meralco’s power generation business, which, he said, would continue to “show profitability in the coming years.”
“While energy sales volume growth has been lower than anticipated, we remain on track to meet our overall targets as power generation is expected to deliver higher-than-expected performance, offsetting the anticipated slower demand growth,” he said.
For the retail electricity supply business, Meralco recently expanded its partnership with CVC Asia, the private equity company behind Landers Superstore.
CVC Asia has tapped MPower, a Meralco-backed power retailer, to help Landers Superstore access cheaper power rates and flexible energy solutions through the competitive retail electricity market (CREM) and retail aggregation program (RAP).
The agreement covers various Lander Superstore locations, including Landers Alabang, Landers Arca South, Landers Arcovia, Landers Balintawak, Landers Nuvali, Landers Fairview and Landers Otis Manila.
Through CREM, electricity users with a demand of at least 500 kilowatts are qualified to choose their preferred energy supplier.
RAP, on the other hand, allows multiple end-users within the same franchise area to consolidate their demand to meet the required 500-kW threshold.
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