Manila Water Company: Manila Water Reports Improved Results despite Income Tax Holiday Expiration

Manila Water Reports Improved Results despite Income Tax Holiday Expiration

Posted: Thursday February 7, 2008

Manila Water Company announced today that it made a net income of about P2.409 billion in 2007, which is slightly higher than the 2.394 billion posted in 2006. The Company achieved these results notwithstanding the payment of P892 million in income taxes for 2007.

“Manila Water’s performance was a result of our aggressive capital investments over the past years, leading to significant improvements in billed volume and operational efficiencies. We sustained our high level of capital expenditures and concession fees at around P4.7 billion in 2007, which thus brings our total investments in the East Zone to around P28 Billion to date“, according to Manila Water President Tony Aquino.

The Company plans to ramp up the level of capital investments even higher with a P187 billion service improvement plan over 15 years, P37 billion of which will be spent within the next five years alone. This plan aims to ensure 24-hour water supply to customers, mitigate effects of natural calamities, expand water and wastewater services to more areas in the East Zone of Metro Manila, and ensure that sufficient water supply is available to meet the demands of an increasing population coverage, particularly in Taguig, parts of Rizal and potentially, to some parts of Bulacan.

The Company considers 2007 a significant milestone as it celebrated its first decade of service last August. Also making the year a notable one was Manila Water’s surpassing the 1 billion liter per day mark in water volume sales as it continued to increase its number of customers to 986 thousand households in 2007, from only 325 thousand in 1997. System loss, or Non-Revenue Water (NRW), has also continued to decrease to the 24 percent level by year-end, a number which brings the system losses in the East Zone comparable with major cities within the Asian region. Aside from this, the average water pressure provided by Manila Water has increased to 12 psi, which means that on the average, households in the East Zone will have water flowing through their faucets up to the second floor without the need for water pumps.

Furthermore, the Company completed two Septage Treatment Plants in 2007 to help ensure adequate sanitation coverage for its customers in the East Zone. Combined with the procurement of additional vacuum tankers, Manila Water was able to increase the number of households benefiting from desludging services from 54,000 in 2006 to around 105,000 this year. The Company has likewise started broadening the scope of its flagship Tubig Para Sa Barangay program, which has benefited more than 1 million people from low-income communities.

“We realize that our projects definitely have a direct impact on improving the quality of life in the communities we serve. We also believe that our capital investment initiatives for improving water and wastewater services provides significant upsides towards generating employment, improving the investment environment, and reducing health costs. This is especially important given the government’s thrust to attract infrastructure investments into the country in spite of the economic uncertainties brought about by a potential slowdown in the US economy,” Aquino added.