Metro Pacific profit jumps 10-fold in 2008

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the local flagship of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., reported a more than 10-fold increase in core net income last year, mainly driven by the robust performance of its water and healthcare units and contribution from its newly-acquired tollways business.

MPIC president and chief executive officer Jose Ma. K. Lim told reporters yesterday that the company’s core net earnings reached P347.1 million in 2008, from only P32.3 million a year earlier.

Including non-recurring gains, MPIC’s reported net income last year hit P548.9 million, a reversal from a net loss of P110.4 million in 2007.

With the continued strength of its core businesses and full-year contributions of its tollways business, Lim said MPIC is eyeing a core net income of P1.2 billion this year or more than three times the 2008 figure.

“In contrast to the increasingly pessimistic outlook for the global economy, prospects for MPIC in 2009 are actually quite sanguine – driven by anticipated improved operational performances and stronger financial results of the subsidiaries and affiliates. This favorable impression of MPIC’s 2009 performance is the result of new investments made in recent years, which have reinforced the growth and stability of MPIC as an important infrastructure company in the Philippines,” said MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Pangilinan said he is hopeful the company will perform “much, much better than last year.”

He said water utility firm Maynilad Water Services Inc. registered an 11-percent hike in revenues in the first two months of this year on account of higher billed volume and increased customer base. 

For its healthcare business, Makati Medical Center, in which MPIC owns a 33-percent stake, posted a five-percent growth in revenues. 

Pangilinan said the group’s infrastructure unit, through Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (formerly Manila North Tollways Corp.), is expected to benefit from increased traffic due to low fuel prices.

In November 2008, MPIC acquired a 67.1-percent stake in MNTC and a 46-percent equity interest in the Tollways Management Corp. for a total cost of P12.3 billion.

Maynilad chipped in P1.036 billion to MPIC this year while Makati Medical Center contributed P73.2 million, compared with a meager P10.8 million in 2007. Davao Doctors’ net contribution stood at 36.6 million.

“The year 2008 has been a year of transformation for MPIC in view of the successful investments which have been made, after setting in 2007 what our goals should be in terms of profitability and expansion. The thrust of your company into infrastructure has clearly taken concrete shape in the course of the year, as evidenced by the increase in investments in water utilities, new controlling interest in the toll roads, together with a significant improvement of our income from the hospitals this year,” said Lim.