MANILA, Philippines – Manuel Pangilinan-led holding company Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) reported that its net income attributable to the parent company was down by 9% to P8.1 billion in the 1st half of 2019.

MPIC said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, August 1, that the decline was due to:

• P560 million of non-recurring expenses compared with P341 million in gains in 2018
• P745 million in foreign exchange losses in 2019 versus gains in 2018

However, it highlighted that its consolidated core net income – earnings derived from the company’s main business – was at P8.7 billion in the 1st half of the year, 11.6% higher than the P8.6 billion in 2018.

These were driven by:

• substantial core income growth from the Manila Electric Company (Meralco)
• volume growth and tariff increases from Maynilad Water Services
• traffic growth on toll roads
• strong patient census at its hospitals

MPIC said all these combined were able to offset higher interest costs.

“Our 5% growth in contribution from operations reflects meaningful volume increases at most of our businesses following years of high investment and our continuing emphasis on operational efficiencies,” said Jose Maria Lim, president and chief executive officer of MPIC.

Power

The company’s power business contributed P6.1 billion to its core net income, 4% higher than last year.

Meralco‘s core net income rose by 14% to P12.3 billion, driven by a 5% increase in energy sales, lower interest expense from lower debt balance, and higher yield from investments. (READ: Manny Pangilinan on brownouts: We need more power plants)

Meanwhile, Global Business Power Corporation’s core net income stood at P1.2 billion, 8.3% lower than the P1.3 billion recorded a year ago.

While its volume sold fell 6%, higher margins on increased prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market largely offset rising depreciation and interest expenses.

Toll roads

The core net income of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) rose by 6% to P2.3 billion on the back of higher traffic on roads.

System-wide vehicle entries, including both domestic and regional road networks, averaged to over 923,000 a day in the 1st half of the year compared to 920,000 a year ago.

MPTC is expected to spend a total of P108.7 billion up to 2022 for new roads.

Water

MPIC’s water business, which comprises of MetroPac Water Investments Corporation and Maynilad, generated a core net income of P2.3 billion from January to June.

Maynilad’s revenues rose by 11% to P12.2 billion from P11 billion due to volume and tariff increases during the period. Its core net income rose by 9% to P4.6 billion. 

Maynilad’s capital expenditure for the 6-month period stood at P5.4 billion, which were directed mostly to upgrading and building reservoirs and pumping stations, laying pipelines, and constructing wastewater facilities.

Hospitals

Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings reported a 14% rise in aggregate revenues. Outpatient visits rose by 10% to 1.8 million, while inpatient admissions rose 6% to 96,697. Its core income grew by 21%.

MPIC’s hospital business is raising capital either through public offering or private placement and plans to use the funds for rolling out more hospitals and service centers.

Rail

Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) contributed P168 million to MPIC’s core income.

LRMC served an average of 446,571 passengers in the 1st half of 2019, peaking at 596,500 riders.

It has allocated capital expenditure of P7.5 billion for train system rehabilitation, structural repairs, and an extension to Cavite for 2019.

“Our absolute focus over the medium term is to build out the many new infrastructure assets we are currently working on in order to further improve our services to the communities, and enhance profitability, earnings per share, and the net asset value of MPIC,” said Pangilinan. – Rappler.com