Manila Water income slightly lower at P5.59B

MANILA Water Co. Inc. posted a consolidated net income of P5.59 billion in 2023, down slightly from P5.92 billion in 2022, due to the recognition of an impairment provision.

The East Zone water concessionaire said it recognized a one-off provision of P4.1 billion related to East Water, one of the company’s legacy investments.

The impairment was recognized to reflect current market conditions and outlook, it said in a statement.

Consolidated revenues, meanwhile, increased by 35 percent to nearly P30.7 billion from P22.80 billion in 2022.

This was supported by a recovery of the East Zone’s commercial and industrial account, and a 20-percent increase in revenues from Manila Water’s non-East Zone Philippines businesses.

Operating income was P20.5 billion for 2023, driven by a continued recovery of demand and the implementation of tariff adjustments in the East Zone concession and several non-East Zone businesses.

Manila Water’s concession booked a 41-percent revenue growth to around P24.10 billion, aided by the implementation of the rate rebasing tariff adjustment early last year and higher consumption across all customer segments.

In January last year, Manila Water implemented the first tranche of tariff adjustments in line with its approved rate rebasing service improvement plan.

The firm’s non-East Zone Philippines business ended the year with about P5.8 billion in revenues, backed by billed volume growth of 6 percent, tariff adjustments and higher contributions from several of its key businesses.

As for its international operations, the positive performance of the Vietnam bulk water businesses and operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were offset by higher interest expenses and the impairment recognized for East Water.

These developments led to a net loss of P3.9 billion for Manila Water International last year.

With regard to capital expenditures, Manila Water’s group spending reached P21.6 billion last year as it strove to ensure prudent compliance to regulatory and service commitments.

“We continue to be encouraged by the recovery of our business and efficiencies from our cost-management initiatives,” Manila Water President and Chief Executive Officer Jocot de Dios said.

“In our East Zone business, the implementation of the first set of tariff adjustments has allowed us to continue our projects in compliance with our service obligations,” he added.

De Dios said that they also saw “good results” from nonEast Zone subsidiaries such as Boracay, South Luzon and Calbayog, and vowed that the company would further streamline its investments “and look for better growth opportunities.”

Manila Water’s share price was down 0.1 percent at P19.44 apiece on Thursday.