Manila Water declares 28¢ cash dividend

MANILA, Philippines - The board of Ayala-led Manila Water Co. yesterday approved a 28-centavo cash dividend for common and preferred shareholders, payable on May 19, 2011.

Meeting yesterday at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, the company’s stockholders approved an increase in the compensation of its directors.

Manila Water directors will now receive a fixed annual retainer of P500,000 plus P200,000 for every quarterly and annual meeting actually attended and P50,000 for every committee meeting actually attended.

Two new directors -Simon Gardiner and Ricardo Nicanor N. Jacinto - were elected to the 11-man board that includes Fernando Zobel, Jaime Agusto Zobel, Delfin Lazaro, Jose L. Cuisia, Gerardo C. Ablaza Jr., Oscar Reyes, Antonino T. Aquino, Keiichi Asai, and John Eric T. Francia,

In a press briefing following the stockholders’ meeting, Manila Water president Gerardo Ablaza said the East Zone concessionaire plans to allocate “in excess of P10 billion” this year for its capital expenditures.

Ablaza said the company’s 2011 capex involves putting up more wastewater/sewage treatment facilities, some initial infrastructure work for a planned water treatment plant tapping the Laguna Lake for anywhere from 50 to 100 million liters per day (MLD), and construction of dams for some river water projects.

He said the Laguna Lake project is scheduled to be completed in the next 18 to 24 months, with some initial infrastructure work to be started this year.

Financing for the P10-billion capex has been secured from a P10 billion fixed rate corporate note issuance to a consortium of banks led by Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. and from a previous $150 million 10-year guaranteed Japanese Nexi Loan facility.

Manila Water chief financial officer Luis Juan Oreta said the East Zone water firm won’t be tapping the debt market further this year. He said they have internally generated funds of around P7 billion.

The Ayala-led water firm expects a “very good” first quarter as it concentrates on maximizing growth within the East Zone, securing more top projects in the country as well as in other countries in Asia.

Ablaza also reported during the ASM that it is allocating P1.2 billion over the next five years for its Laguna Water Corp. subsidiary, and P880 million—again over a five year period for its Boracay Island Water Corp.

The P1.2-billion capex for Laguna would be used to expand water services to Sta. Rosa and Binan, Laguna.

For Boracay, the capex allocation of P880 million over the next five years would be for expansion of water coverage and upgrading of wastewater facilities.