Mla Water to invest in another Vietnam firm

MANILA, Philippines - After a successful entry into Vietnam, Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. is investing in another Vietnamese utility firm. 

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), MWCI announced that its subsidiary Manila Water South Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. (MWSAH) has signed an investment agreement with Vietnam’s Saigon Water Infrastructure Corp. (SII) for the acquisition of 18. 37 million primary shares which will constitute 31.47 percent of SII’s outstanding capital stock.

Under the agreement, MWSAH will pay the subscription price after SII has complied with the conditions for the investment within 105 days.

SII, which has been listed in the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange since September 2012, is reportledly setting its sights on the development of the Sagion Pleiku water plant project in Gia Lai province which will have a treatment capacity of 30,000 cubic meters per day.

“SII aims to become the first fully integrated company in the Vietnam water and wastewater infrastructure sector, through the construction of water and wastewater treatment plants and the provision of engineering,operation and management services and other similar activities,” the company said.

The acquisition in SII would expand Manila Water’s presence in Vietnam.

Manila Water registered an 11-percent increase in net income to P2.9 billion for the first semester of the year from P2.63 billion a year ago due to higher billed volume and lower operating expenses.

Manila Water’s revenues for the first half of the year rose by six percent to P7.63 billion from P7.19 billion a year ago.

Its operating expenses fell by two percent to P2.097 billion from P2.135 billion last year.

The company’s total billed volume in the first six months of the year rose two percent to 287 million cubic meters (mcm) from 281.4 million cubic meters in the same period last year.