After surpassing its core income target in 2016, power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is turning cautious this year as it braces for the impact of global developments and cooler temperature on the electricity demand and energy sales, company officials said yesterday.

In a briefing yesterday, Meralco chief finance officer Betty Siy-Yap said core net income rose four percent from P18.89 billion in 2015 to P19.58 billion in 2016, slightly beating the company’s core profit guidance of P19 billion.

Consolidated revenues, on the other hand, marginally declined from P258.4 billion to P257.18 billion as lower pass-through fuel prices which muted the impact of the increase in volume energy distributed as well as the lower average consolidated distribution rate.

The company said energy sales went up 8.1 percent to 40,142 gigawatt-hours (gwh) while customer base increased 4.4 percent to 6.04 million customers.

The distribution utility’s positive performance last year was attributed to the generally warmer weather and the robust economic landscape, Meralco president Oscar Reyes said in the same briefing.

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