Manila Water income in 2018 up 6% to P6.5B

Manila Water Co. Inc.’s net income rose by 6 percent to P6.5 billion in 2018, amid continuously growing demand in its concession with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System as well as expanding businesses abroad.

The Ayala group’s MWSS concession posted a 3-percent growth in billed volume — pegged at 503 million cubic meters last year — faster than the 2-percent growth seen in 2017.

Company officials have said that customer demand has been constantly rising by about 3 percent yearly since 1997 when the concession was granted.

In its businesses elsewhere in the Philippines, through Manila Water Philippine Ventures, billed volume decreased as “operational and regulatory challenges” such as the closure of Boracay Island to tourists weighed down on the subsidiary’s performance.

Manila Water has been expanding its domestic operations, securing 13 new businesses in 2018.

Overseas, the company acquired a 19-percent stake in East Water in Thailand and a 20-percent stake in PT Sarana Tirta Ungaran in Indonesia — both of which started contributing to earnings last year.

Company officials said they did not know yet how the current shortage in the MWSS concession would impact on its financial performance this year.