NGCP grilled after records show up to 99% of annual net profits go to dividends

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday faced another round of grilling from the Senate energy committee after records showed that 75% to 99% of its annual profits went to dividends.

At the continuation of the investigation into NGCP’s operation, Senator Raffy Tulfo, panel chairman, asked the NGCP to disclose its income and dividends for years 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019 as he mentioned reports that the state grid corporation only allocates a minuscule amount of its revenues for redevelopment or reinvestments.

NGCP assistant corporate secretary Ronald Dylan Concepcion said the net income and the dividend for the said years are:

2014

• Net Income: P22 billion
• Dividends: P24 billion

2015

• Net Income: P22.5 billion
• Dividends: P21 billion

2017

• Net Income: P20.6 billion
• Dividends: P19 billion

2019

• Net Income: P20.030 billion
• Dividends: P15 billion

Tulfo took a swipe at  NGCP as he noted that in 2019 alone 75% of its income went to dividends; in 2017, 99% of its income went to the profit sharing; and in 2014, the amount of dividends is higher than the net income.

“Only in the Philippines na for profit ang transmission. It should not be for profit. Maliwanag pa sa sikat na araw nag-tumitib-tiba ‘yung mga may ari nito,” Tulfo said.

The Energy panel chairman attributed NGCP’s unfinished projects to the huge amount of profits that went to its shareholders.

“Kaya pala hindi ma-comply comply ang nasa kontrata na mag-invest kayo sa connectivity at nagpapalusot na lang kayo (ng dahil sa) COVID, puro COVID. And then after COVID, ‘yung right-of-way (ang reason). See?” Tulfo said.

“Nagkakaproblema na nga kayo sa development. Ba’t di ninyo binuhos don ang dibidendo? Sana binuhos, ni-reinvest sa development,” he went on.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza explained that the net profits and dividends are accumulated from previous years and the net income for a certain year is not the sole source of the shares which are divided to its shareholders.

“Our profits or dividends were taken from retained earnings which have accumulated over the years. So it’s not a one is to one po. Kung ano ang dineclare for this year does not really necessarily come solely from the profits earned from that particular year. So accumulated po yan over the years. So the numbers may or may not match,” Alabanza told the Senate panel.

Concepcion also explained to the committee that the capital outlay of the NGCP comes from different sources such as loans from banks.

Last week, the Senate panel questioned China State Grid Corporation’s 40% shares in the NGCP and its supposed power over the two Filipino stakeholders which have 30% shares each.

Tulfo mentioned reports that the Chinese stakeholders can veto the resolutions passed by the board despite being the minority shareholder in the NGCP.

The Senate energy panel has issued a subpoena on NGCP’s shareholder’s agreement to verify these reports.

The NGCP consortium is composed of Monte Oro Grid Corporation (30%), Calaca High Power Corporation (30%), and State Grid Corporation of China (40%).—AOL, GMA Integrated News