| First Gen 9-month net income at $7M |
 FIRST Gen Corporation reported a net income attributable to equity holders of the parent of $7.0 million for the ninemonth period ending Sept. 30, 2009. This is 85% lower than the $45.8M in net income for the same period in 2008.The decline in net income was principally attributable to a one-time, non-cash writedown of the deferred tax assets of First Gen’s geothermal associate, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), due to the recent implementation of the Renewable Energy (RE) Act. In addition, the $2.9M unrealized foreign exchange loss in 2009 further exacerbated the variance between the 2009 and 2008 results. In 2008, the company enjoyed unrealized gains of $22.2M from foreign exchange movements. These were, however, offset by savings in interest expense from the company’s refinancing activities and benefits from its gas projects’ lower deferred income tax. During the nine-month period in 2009, First Gen’s main power generating assets continued to deliver steady operational results. The 1,000-megawatt (MW) Santa Rita and 500- MW San Lorenzo natural gasfired plants consistently enjoyed average dispatch levels in excess of 80%. The company’s financial health also continued to stabilize as it pursued a strong financing program aimed at moving a significant portion of the company’s loan obligations to operating subsidiaries and striking a reasonable balance between debt and equity. The company’s successful financing programs has brought down interest expense at the parent company level from a high of $74.5M in 2008 to $60.5M in the current year. First Gen chief finance officer Giles Puno said, “Going forward, our financing program, particularly the P15-B rights issuance, is designed to further reduce our debt obligations with equity.” Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
