Manila Water posts P3.3-B net income in first 9 mos.

Manila Water Co. Inc. posted a P3.3-billion net income in the first nine months of the year, up 13-percent from P2.96 billion in the same 2010 period, the water concessionaire reported Tuesday. The positive revenue could be attributed to the 7-percent rise in billed volume to 313.6 million cubic meters during the first three quarters from 311.8 million cubic meters in 2010, the company said in a statement. Laguna Water and Boracay Water contributed to the increase in company revenues for the said period, stated Manila Water’s report. Laguna Water posted a revenue increase of 19 percent, to P68.3 million from P57.2 million, while Boracay Water registered an increase of 20 percent to P134 million from P112 million. Meanwhile, the company also disclosed it has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Veolia Water Phils. Inc., Philippine Water Holdings Co., and Veolia Eau-Compagnie Generale Des Faux to acquire 100 percent of Clark Water Corp.’s outstanding capital stock. The agreement is still subject to a certain condition that both parties will soon finalize, Manila Water said. Clark Water is the water concessionaire of Clark Freeport Economic Zone in Pampanga, and operates a 25-year concession that Clark Development Corp. granted. 6.1 million customers Currently, the water company is serving 1,800 locators with a billed volume of approximately 20 million liters a day. Mostly commercial and industrial users comprise the customer base of Clark Water at 83 percent of its total water sales. Shares from Clark Water comprise less than 10 percent of Manila Water’s total book value. Manila Water became the private concessionaire of the state-owned Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System in 1997, and currently provides water and wastewater service to more than 6.1 million people on the eastern side of Metro Manila, covering parts of Quezon City and Manila, Makati, Pasig, Marikina, Mandaluyong, San Juan and Pateros as well as several towns of the province of Rizal. — PE/VS, GMA News