MWC sheds Thai holdings for P1.1B

Razon-led Manila Water Company Inc. (MWC) has unloaded its investment in Thailand’s Eastern Water Resources Development and Management Public Company Limited (East Water), selling its entire stake for P1.10 billion.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Friday, MWC said its subsidiary, Manila Water (Thailand) Co. Ltd. (MWTC), sold all 311,443,190 ordinary shares, or 18.72 percent of East Water’s issued and paid-up capital, to Mr. Bhavin Kunaderekwong for 622.9 million baht.

“The divestment is consistent with MWC's core strategy, which prioritizes operational control and long-term value creation," the company said.

"Divesting this non-core holding enables MWC to reallocate capital and management bandwidth towards other strategic assets and initiatives,” it added.

In the first half of the year, MWC reported its net income rose 15 percent to nearly P8 billion, while EBITDA climbed 15 percent to P14.6 billion, with margins improving to 73 percent.

Revenues from the East Zone grew 11 percent to P16 billion, lifted by the January tariff adjustment.

MWC recently finalized its nearly P38-billion purchase of Prime Infrastructure Inc.’s stake in WawaJVCo Inc., which will integrate the Wawa Dam system into its East Zone network.

The deal is expected to boost efficiency, cut costs, and secure a long-term water source for 3.5 million Filipinos.