First Gen Corporation reported a 17% decrease in attributable recurring net income for the first nine months of 2024 at $205 million (P11.6 billion) in comparison to $249 million (P13.8 billion) in 2023.

Energy Development Corporation’s (EDC) geothermal portfolio reported a combined decline in revenue and increase in cash operating expenses. However, higher profits from the natural gas business and the Casecnan Hydroelectric Power Plant were able to partially offset the decline from First Gen’s geothermal business.

The company generated $1,847 million (P104.6 billion) in revenues in the first three quarters of 2024, a 2% decrease from $1,891 million (P104.7 billion) in 2023. The natural gas portfolio, which includes First Gen’s LNG terminal, accounted for 65% of First Gen’s total consolidated revenues, while 33% came from EDC’s geothermal, wind and solar plants. The balance comes from the company’s hydro business unit.

The natural gas business unit reported a 5% increase in recurring earnings for the first three quarters of the year to $154 million (P8.7 billion) from $147 million (P8.1 billion) last year. The San Gabriel Power Plant and the Santa Rita Power Plant delivered higher operating income due to savings in operating expenses and high spot market prices in the case of San Gabriel. In addition, the LNG terminal generated commissioning revenues from its pre-commercial operations and terminal fees. Only Avion Power Plant had lower net income due to lower kilowatt-hour sales and higher operating expenses.

EDC’s recurring attributable earnings (ex-hydro) at $58 million (P3.3 billion) for the first nine months of 2024 were 43% lower than its recurring attributable income of $102 million (P5.7 billion) in 2023.

The hydro platform’s contribution to First Gen’s recurring earnings was at $14 million (P800 million) for the first three quarters of 2024. The Casecnan Hydroelectric Power Plant contributed $12 million (P651 million) of recurring net income for its seven months of operations after its turnover to First Gen. This offset the lower recurring income of the Pantabangan-Masiway power plants of $3 million (P161 million) from $6 million (P305 million) last year.

“Though EDC’s net income is lower compared to last year’s, it is generally in line with what we were forecasting this year. For the first nine months of 2024, there were lower volumes from Leyte due in part to unplanned outages and from our Burgos wind farm due to weaker wind. There were also considerable expenses related to our massive drilling program. However, we expect this situation to reverse next year as we see additional baseload renewable energy to come in from our ongoing 40- well drilling program and from the 83 megawatts of additional geothermal plants that we are commissioning currently,” First Gen president and COO Giles Puno said.