Metro Pacific breaches P7-B income mark

MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) breached the P7-billion income mark last year, driven by across-the-board growth in its operating units.

To ensure further growth, parent firm Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. allotted P81.5 billion for the local unit’s various projects this year, top executives said.

MPIC’s core net income, which strips out currency and derivatives-related items, jumped 10 percent to P7.2 billion in 2013 from P6.6 billion a year ago, exceeding the profit guidance of P7 billion.

“The strong results for 2013 reflect continuing improvements in service levels as well as efficiency gains for all our operating companies,” said MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“All our businesses achieved strong growth in profitability for the year,” added MPIC president and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim.

The rise in core net income was attributed mainly to robust earnings at Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) due to traffic growth and its acquisition of Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) at the start of the year, and growth at Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) due to a combination of tariff progression and higher volumes.

The company said it also benefited  from the strong organic growth and its investments in the hospital group in 2013.

Maynilad accounted for 44 percent or P3.8 billion of the net operating income, followed by Meralco at P2.3 billion or 27 percent, MPTC at P1.9 billion or 22 percent and the healthcare group at P581 million or seven percent.

In particular, Meralco’s net income was flat at P17.2 billion but it recorded a four-percent growth in energy sales to 34,084 gigawatt-hours.

Maynilad, the biggest water utility in the Philippines, said its billed volume rose four percent while effective tariff picked up three percent.

Its total revenues rose six percent to P16.9 billion from P15.9 billion in 2012 “due to the combined effect of the increase in billed volume and an average effective year-on-year tariff increase of three percent, mainly inflation-driven,” MPIC said.

For the tollroad business, MPTC’s core net income climbed 25 percent to P2 billion “as a result of strong traffic growth and lower tax rates, interest and operating costs on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) as well as the first contribution from Cavitex in 2013,” MPIC said.