Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWC), led by the Razon group, reported a 15 percent increase in net income to nearly P8 billion in the first half of the year. Growth in its East Zone Concession and Non-East Zone Philippines businesses, along with efficiency gains, drove the results.

The company said Friday that EBITDA also rose 15 percent to P14.6 billion, with the EBITDA margin improving by four percentage points to 73 percent.

East Zone revenues

Revenues from the East Zone Concession increased 11 percent to P16 billion, helped by the third tranche of the approved Rate Rebasing tariff adjustment in January.

Billed volume slipped 1 percent due to lower residential consumption and reduced cross-border volume. Costs grew just 1 percent to P1.9 billion, allowing EBITDA to climb 11 percent to P5.7 billion with a 75 percent margin.

Non-East Zone net income

Net income outside the East Zone rose 12 percent to P852 million, supported by tariff adjustments and an 8 percent increase in billed volume.

Key contributors included Clark Water, Boracay Water, Cebu Water and Estate Water. Revenues from these areas grew 11 percent to P4.7 billion.

MWC International’s equity share in net income increased 15 percent to P46 million, helped by better performance from Thu Duc Water in Vietnam and the IWP2 management contract in Saudi Arabia.

Capital expenditures reached P11 billion, with 86 percent allocated to the East Zone.

Wawa JVCo acquisition

In June, MWC signed a term sheet to acquire 100 percent of Wawa JVCo from Prime Infrastructure Inc. and minority shareholders.

Wawa JVCo’s bulk water supply project can produce up to 712 million liters per day and will be integrated into the East Zone to boost supply, improve efficiency, and reduce future water risks.

“Our acquisition of Wawa JVCo aligns squarely with our objective of ensuring a credible, consistent and stable source of water for the communities we serve,” MWC president and CEO Jocot de Dios said. “Equally important, it enables us to establish an integrated approach to water distribution across our network, resulting in better levels of efficiency and reliability in our operations.”