Aboitiz Power Rises by Record After Profit Jumps 35%

By Ian C. Sayson

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Aboitiz Power Corp. advanced the most since it started trading in Manila after the Philippine power producer and distributor said nine-month profit jumped 35 percent.

Aboitiz Power jumped 11 percent to 3.95 pesos at the noon close local time, its biggest gain since it started trading in July 16, 2007. The stock, which rose as much as 14 percent earlier today, topped a 0.2 percent gain in the main Philippine Stock Exchange Index.

``The earnings result is giving the stock a bounce,'' said Rico Gomez, who helps manage $1 billion in assets at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. ``The profit bodes well for the stock, which has been generally viewed as cheap.''

Net income climbed to 3.17 billion pesos ($66 million), the company said today, driven in part by its acquisitions of power plants. Excluding currency adjustments and provisions, recurring profit jumped 73 percent to 3.45 billion pesos, it said.

Aboitiz Power is trading at 7.1 times its estimated earnings in the next 12 months, compared with 10 times for the Philippine Stock Exchange Index.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., which owns Aboitiz Power, rose for the first time this week, climbing 3.6 percent to 5.70 pesos, its highest close in almost four weeks.

Earnings contribution from power generation grew 66 percent to 1.99 billion pesos after energy sales jumped 130 percent to 1,300 gigawatt-hours, Aboitiz Power said. Acquisitions helped increased the company's generating capacity 41 percent to 578 megawatts, it said.

Power distribution contributed 1.12 billion pesos in income, up 6 percent from a year ago after electricity sales increased 17 percent from a year ago, the utility said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian C. Sayson in Manila at isayson@bloomberg.net