Manila Water has declared a consolidated net income of ₱5.5 billion for 2019, which is lower by 16% from 2018 figures. This has been anticipated considering the challenges the company faced last year, with the East Zone concession severely impacted by the water supply shortage in March. The decline in La Mesa dam water levels caused water service availability to drop significantly, with La Mesa dam reaching its lowest level at 68.5 meters in April 2019. In July last year, raw water allocation from Angat Dam hit its lowest, with releases limited to 35 cubic meters per second for the MWSS Concessionaires. To mitigate the impact of low raw water supply, Manila Water pushed for network efficiency to maintain service availability, with at least 7 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure, enough to reach the ground floor level, enabling it to serve more than 7 million people in the East Zone with safe and reliable water supply, covering over 1.3 million households and with more than 5,000 kilometers of network pipeline.

Prime Metroline Holdings Inc., on behalf of a company to be incorporated, signed with Manila Water a Subscription Agreement for the acquisition of 820 Mn common shares of Manila Water which represents a 25% stake in the Company at a price of Php13/share. The entry of Prime, which is led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr., as a strategic investor to Manila Water is expected to bolster Manila Water’s ability to provide reliable, efficient and sustainable water and wastewater services in the East Zone and at the same time pursue growth initiatives both domestically and globally. The Razon group brings with it its expansive global reach and business expertise; with operations in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, to Manila Water.

Manila Water has made available thirty (30) water tankers to provide for the needs of evacuees affected by the eruption of Taal Volcano, in various sites in Southern Luzon. Deployed water tankers will be refilled by Laguna Water and their personnel will also lend assistance with the tankering activities. Meanwhile, Manila Water Foundation (MWF) will also be sending 2,000 units of 5-gallon bottles of potable water to various evacuation sites, in coordination with the Batangas Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).

Manila Water would like to state certain facts in the interest of public discussion on the award recently issued by an arbitral tribunal in favor of Manila Water as administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). We wish to clarify that the PCA is an internationally recognized inter-governmental organization.

Manila Water earnings decreased 11 percent from last year to stand at ₱4.4 billion as of the 3rd quarter, with performance still dampened by the impact of the water supply shortage in its Manila Concession early this year. Despite these challenges, continued efforts towards operating efficiency in the East Zone and the increased contribution of the domestic subsidiaries have made the business more resilient. As a result, core net income stood at ₱5.8 billion for the period – an improvement of over 10 percent from last year.