MANILA, Philippines - Manila Water Corp. is vying for six projects in India together with its Indian joint venture partner O.P. Jindal.
This was learned yesterday from officials of Manila Water led by its president Jose Rene Almendras and chief financial officer Luis Juan Oreta following the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting.
Yesterday’s meeting saw the election of former Central Bank Governor Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., Takeaki Yamashita and John Eric T. Francia into the company’s board replacing former National Economic and Development Authority chief Cielito F. Habito, Hiromu Nishimura and Leslie A. Bell.
Meeting right away, the new board announced later a cash dividend of P0.23 per common share, reflecting a 16 percent growth in earnings per share for 2009. While the East Zone water concessionaire is yet to release its first quarter figures three weeks from now, Almendras indicated that growth prospects remain good for the company this year.
Oreta said Manila Water would remain in the double-digit growth level following a two percent increase in bill volume.This, he said, is despite some factors that affected the firm’s financials in the first quarter including the delay in the approval of the water firm’s adjusted tariff.
For this year, Oreta said Manila Water will not resort to further borrowings for its P10 billion capital expenditures. However, the water firm is already in talks with some financial institution about tapping the market next year to fund 50 percent of its P10 billion capex allocation for 2011.
According to Almendras, the Indian joint venture is in the process of pre-qualifying for six projects in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajashtan.
Oreta said they are looking at two concession type projects, two bulk water projects and two operating and maintenance contracts.
The two officials said they are also keeping an eye out for other possible projects around the region. Oreta said China and Cambodia are not in focus, although they remain on the radar of the water firm.
Locally, Oreta said Manila Water is eyeing “a couple” of projects in the South, which conforms to the firm’s criteria for urban, densely populated areas.