AYALA-LED AC Energy Corp. was among the actively traded stocks last week with analysts attributing the stock’s market activity to investors continuing to look favorably on the firm’s expansion plans and the prospects of renewables.
AC Energy was the 10th most traded stock last week, with P1.31-billion worth of 124.73 million shares exchanged hands on the local bourse during the trading week from Dec. 13 to 17, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.
AC Energy shares closed at P10.62 apiece on Friday, down 1.1% from its closing price of P10.74 each on Dec. 10. Year to date, its share price has increased by 16.4%.
“AC Energy remains a darling stock for local and foreign investors driven by the positive outlook on the company’s renewable capacity expansion plans,” Unicapital Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Cristopher Adrian T. San Pedro said via mobile phone message.
First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang pointed to the growing prominence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices that also contributed to AC Energy’s increased trading activity.
“AC Energy is a top name in clean energy space, aspiring to be the biggest listed renewable energy play in the region,” Ms. Ulang said in an e-mail.
Last week saw the firm receiving stockholder approval for the issuance of up to 942 million common shares to UPC Renewables Asia-Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd. and UPC/AC Renewables Chief Executive Officer Anton Rohner in line with the firm’s takeover of their joint venture holding company for Australia energy and power projects and investments.
On a press release dated Oct. 19, the listed power firm said its board of directors had given the green light for AC Energy’s subsidiary AC Renewables International Pte. Ltd. to spend $243.3 million in buying the 52% interest held by its partner UPC Renewables and UPC/AC Renewables Australia’s Mr. Rohner.
AC Energy is targeting to achieve double-digit growth over the next few years amid recent developments such as the plan to fully own UPC/AC Renewables Australia.
AC Energy currently has an attributable capacity of around 3,000 megawatts (MW) in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia. Moreover, its renewable share of capacity is at approximately 80%.
The firm looks to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, aiming to achieve 5,000 MW in attributable renewable energy capacity by 2025.
Latest financial data showed AC Energy’s attributable income at P1.58 billion in the third quarter, up 68.3% from the same period last year.
As of the third quarter of the year, its attributable net income improved by 22% to P4.27 billion driven by additional operating capacity and recovering power demand.
Unicapital’s Mr. San Pedro expects the firm’s net income to settle within a “conservative range” of P4-8 billion for this year.
“We remain optimistic on the power sector industry as it remained resilient against the new COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) variants this year. The demand for energy and their expansion projects capabilities also improved following the looser lockdown restrictions,” he said.
Mr. San Pedro expects stocks to “remain sideways” between a support of P9.66 per share and P11.50 per share in the short term “with a bullish bias once it stays above P11.0 [per share].”
Meanwhile, FMIC’s Ms. Ulang advised investors to watch out for AC Energy’s mergers and acquisitions, as well as its activities on raising funds and forging strategic partnerships. — M.I.U. Catilogo
