PSALM says 2025 debt dropped P13.4 billion to P260.6 billion

STATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) reported a P13.4-billion decrease in its financial obligations for 2025, citing privatization and collection initiatives.

This brings PSALM’s remaining debt to P260.6 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025, compared with P247 billion at the end of 2024, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The state-led firm also reported payments of P20 billion in interest and other charges, and remitted P9 billion in dividends to the National Government.

PSALM attributed the debt reduction to several transactions, including the privatization of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan hydroelectric power plants, which generated a portion of P36.3 billion.

The company added that collections from fees on the concession of transmission assets, administration of independent power producer contracts, and the privatization of select real estate assets also contributed to lowering its obligations.

PSALM reported a 92.28% collection efficiency, representing P15.88 billion in power sales collections.

“These achievements strengthen PSALM’s financial position geared towards the completion of its mandate within its extended corporate life in support of the Philippine energy sector,” said PSALM President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Edward A. Dela Serna.

Mr. Dela Serna said the agency remains fully committed to further reducing its obligations through sustained privatization efforts and innovative asset and liability management strategies.

Created under Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, PSALM is mandated to privatize government-owned power assets and manage the proceeds to settle the financial obligations of the National Power Corp.

The agency’s corporate term, initially set to expire in June 2026, has been extended by 10 years after a measure granting the extension lapsed into law in April 2025.

Compared with its peak debt of P1.24 trillion in 2023, PSALM has reduced its obligations by 79%, or P980 billion, as of end-December 2025.

The company attributed the decline to “effective financial management and long-standing strategy of channeling privatization proceeds toward debt reduction.”

To date, PSALM has generated P959.6 billion in privatization proceeds, with P888.7 billion already collected.

Last year, Mr. Dela Serna announced a 10-year plan to liquidate remaining liabilities through several measures. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera