MikeLigalig.com

Officials of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) have assured there will be a higher demand for power in the years to come, with the strong economic growth projected for the country.

SMC chief finance officer Ferdinand Constantino, in a recent company presentation in Cebu, told stockholders this bodes well for the conglomerate because it wants to expand its power business further.

Economic growth drives the demand for energy, and Constantino said the Philippines needs 16,600 megawatts for the next 20 years.

There is “a lot of room available” to serve that demand, he said.

In his presentation, he noted that their energy business took up 29-percent market share in Luzon and 21.7 percent in the whole country.

SMC’s power plants are located in Sual, Limay, San Roque and Ilijan.

They also own 33.2 percent of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), considered the biggest power distributor in the country.

Constantino credited this performance to their strategic locations.

He described 2011 as a “very good year” for SMC, which registered P246 billion in sales.

Constantino said this was up 49 percent from the previous year.

Their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached P52.5 billion in 2010 from P30 billion in 2009.

Constantino placed their net income at P20 billion, although he admitted they earned more in 2009 at P50 billion due to the sale of their shares in Japanese brewery Kirin.

Aside from SMC’s core businesses in beverages, food and packaging, he said, their new businesses in energy, fuel, telecommunications, infrastructure, mining and banking also drove their income up.

He explained that since 2007, they have been diversifying their businesses from food and beverage to “new things” that they consider will help them grow further. - PNA