Maynilad seeks help of foreign experts

Maynilad Water Inc., the water concessionaire in the western zone of Metro Manila, is in talks with two foreign companies to provide technological know-how necessary to reduce water lost to leaks and pilferage, and tap new water source.

Maynilad chief operating officer Herbert Consunji refused to identify the two foreign parties pending completion of negotiations.

Consunji said Maynilad is seeking to improve its non-revenue water (NRW) to 59 percent by yearend from the current 65 percent.

Maynilad is spending nearly P44 billion over the next five years to expand and improve its water distribution network. For this year, the company has earmarked around P8 billion for its capital expenditures.

Maynilad currently supplies 2.1 million liters of water per day to about six million customers in Caloocan, Manila, parts of Quezon City, Pasay, Valenzuela, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Malabon, Navotas, Las Piñas and areas in Cavite.

Formerly owned by the Lopez family, Maynilad went into rehabilitation after its debts and finances turned sour partly due to a sharp peso depreciation following the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998.

In December 2006, the Metro Pacific-DMCI Holdings consortium won the right to jointly operate Maynilad with a $447 million bid in a government auction in December 2006.

For the period January to March 2008, Maynilad reported a core net income of P611.7 million or 93.56 percent higher than the previous level.

The growth was attributed improvements in Maynilad’s key performance indicators across-the-board.

Total billed volume rose five percent to 71.7 million cubic meters, up five percent from 68.3 million cubic meters a year earlier.

Total number of billed customers improved by three percent to 710,450 customers from 687,207 end-March 2007.