MPIC nets P13.2B

MPIC CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim

Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) grew its net profit last year by 15 percent to P13.2 billion on higher earnings contribution across its power, tollroads, water and hospital businesses.

Excluding non-recurring items, MPIC’s core profit last year rose by 17 percent to P14.1 billion.

By earnings mix, power contributed 52 percent of MPIC’s total business compared to 48 percent in the previous year. The tollroad business accounted for 22 percent while water accounted for 21 percent. The hospital and other businesses had a cumulative share of 5 percent.

In a press briefing on Thursday, MPIC president Jose Ma. Lim said the group’s core profits were boosted by an expanded power portfolio following further investment in Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc. alongside robust traffic growth on all roads held by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and continuing growth in the hospital group.

One-off items that accounted for the difference between core and headline profit included a non-recurring expense amounting to P953 million this year, up from P650 million a year earlier, consisting mainly of refinancing expenses, project expenses and separation costs of a redundancy program at Maynilad Water Services Inc. These were largely offset by gain on sale of shares in Manila Electric Co.

“MPIC’s group-wide capital expenditure in 2017 was P38 billion, all of it contributing to the fabric of our nation and enhancing our capacity to serve the public. In addition, we invested P38.9 billion in deepening our participation in the power sector and expanding into new markets including Indonesia,” Lim said.

“Our earnings growth reflects significant volume increases for all our businesses, supported by years of high investment together with our continuing emphasis on operational efficiencies,” he said.