THE Ayala Group’s listed energy company, Acen Corp. develops, builds and operates a 100 percent renewable energy portfolio across Asia Pacific, generating about 7 gigawatts of capacity from solar, wind, and geothermal energy storage.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of Acen
ACEN Corp. saw its first-half net income rise more than fivefold to P3.9 billion as stronger renewable energy generation, higher contracted power sales, and favorable domestic electricity prices drove a recovery in earnings.
The Ayala group’s listed energy platform said Tuesday that consolidated net income in the first six months surged 411 percent from a year earlier, while attributable renewable energy generation grew 21 percent to 4,024 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
Attributable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), excluding non-cash one-off items, likewise increased 40 percent to P14.7 billion.
Performance in the first half of 2026
“ACEN’s performance in the first half of 2026 underscores our recovery from the challenges of the previous year while reflecting the company’s transition into a phase of measured growth,” said ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia.
Amid a continually uncertain environment, our priorities remain clear — protecting our balance sheet, growing our contracted energy sales and expanding our energy storage asset base,” he added.
Key driver
The Philippines was a key driver of the improvement, with renewable energy generation rising 17 percent to 1,091 gigawatt-hours (GWh) on better availability of ACEN’s Pagudpud and Capa 2 wind assets in Ilocos Norte.
Attributable revenues jumped 41 percent to P23.6 billion, while EBITDA climbed 48 percent to P6.6 billion.
The gains were also supported by higher contracted energy sales, including the expansion of ACEN’s retail electricity supply business.
ACEN RES grew its portfolio by nearly 22 percent from end-2025 to 587 megawatts (MW), while the full effectivity of the company’s 160-MW mid-merit contract with Manila Electric Co. provided an additional boost.
Favorable domestic market conditions further lifted results, with Wholesale Electricity Spot Market prices rising 29 percent to P4.90 per kilowatt-hour amid recovering demand, peak summer conditions, higher fossil fuel prices and tighter supply due to forced baseload plant outages.
Strong performance overseas
ACEN also recorded stronger performance across most of its overseas markets.
In Australia, attributable generation surged 56 percent to 862 GWh on the full operational contribution of Stubbo Solar and reduced grid curtailment at New England Solar 1, lifting revenues by 59 percent to P2.2 billion and EBITDA by 35 percent to P1.2 billion.
