MPIC net income rises by 45% in 1st 9 months

MANILA, Philippines—Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. grew its net profit by 45 percent year on year in the first nine months to P4.99 billion as its four core businesses—power distribution, water infrastructure, toll road and hospitals—contributed higher earnings.

Excluding non-recurring items, MPIC’s core net profit went up by 27 percent to P5.03 billion from January to September from year-ago level. For the third quarter alone, core income rose by 22 percent year on year to P1.6 billion.

Given the nine-month results, MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company would likely hit its full-year core income guidance of P6.3 billion for 2012. This suggests that for the fourth quarter, MPIC expects to post at least P1.27 billion in core profit.

Pangilinan told a press briefing on Wednesday that MPIC’s main market in the foreseeable future would still be the Philippines. But controlling stockholder First Pacific Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong, also headed by Pangilinan, is looking at opportunities that can ride on the expertise gained from the Philippine businesses, particularly toll road and water infrastructure.

Maynilad Water Services Inc. president Victorico Vargas said the group was looking at water infrastructure opportunities not just in Vietnam, where the group recently sent a high-level mission, but also in Indonesia and Myanmar.

For toll roads, Metro Pacific Tollways president Ramoncito Fernandez said the group was looking at a 90-kilometer toll-road project in Vietnam. He said this was a public-private partnership (PPP) project supervised by the World Bank and the group wanted to come in as a private equity partner.  This greenfield PPP project, he added, would be auctioned off next year.

Pangilinan said MPIC would continue to invest in the Philippines “for the good of MPIC, and the good of our people.”

For the nine-month MPIC results, a loss of P36 million in non-recurring charges accounted for the difference in reported and core net income levels.

In terms of contribution to MPIC’s net operating income representing the holding firm’s attributable interest in each investor company, Maynilad accounted for P2.65 billion, or 44 percent, of total; Manila Electric Co., P1.94 billion, or 32 percent; and MPTC, P1.08 billion, or 18 percent. The hospital group contributed P346 million, or 6 percent of the total.

The operating units performed in the first nine months as follow:

— Meralco’s core net income in the first nine months rose by 11 percent to P12.89 billion due mainly to an 8-percent increase in energy sales.

— Maynilad’s core earnings rose by 13 percent to P5.09 billion as the volume of water sold to its customers grew by 8 percent while non-revenue water (NRW) declined to 42.4 percent as of the end of September from 46.5 percent a year earlier.

— MPTC’s core net income of P1.11 billion was 6 percent higher than year-ago level, given traffic growth and lower operating costs.

— Core net income of the hospital group rose by 31 percent to P537 million.