Metro Pacific Reports Strong Growth
- 1H 2019 Core Net Income at PhP8.7b vs. PhP8.6b in 1H 2018
- Reported Net Income attributable to shareholders at PhP8.1b
- System-wide revenues including MERALCO up 9% to PhP217.8b
- Fully Diluted Core Net Income per share up 1% to 27.48 centavos
- Interim dividend per share at 3.45 centavos, at par with last year
- MERALCO Core Net Income PhP12.3b, Core EBITDA PhP19.9b
- Global Power Core Net Income PhP1.2b, Core EBITDA PhP4.6b
- Tollways Core Net Income PhP2.4b, Core EBITDA PhP6.3b
- Maynilad Water Core Net Income PhP4.6b, Core EBITDA PhP8.8b
- Hospital Group Core Net Income PhP1.3b, Core EBITDA PhP3.1b
- Light Rail, Logistics and Other businesses net loss of PhP13m
- MPIC Group wide capex for 1H 2019 at PhP33.5b excluding acquisitions
- Power distributed in Luzon +5%
- Power sold in Visayas -6%
- Domestic toll road traffic +8%
- Volume of water sold in West Metro Manila +3%
- Hospital group census +10%
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (PSE: MPI) today reported consolidated core net income of PhP8.7 billion for the six months ended 30 June 2019 from PhP8.6 billion in the year-earlier period.
Earnings were lifted by a 5% increase in operating contribution driven by: (i) substantial Core Net Income growth from Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO, PSE: MER); (ii) continuing volume growth coupled with inflation-linked and basic tariff increases at Maynilad Water Service Inc.; (iii) continued traffic growth on our domestic toll roads; and (iv) strong patient census at our hospitals, all of which combined to offset higher interest costs.
Power accounted for PhP6.1 billion or 54% of net operating income; Tollroads contributed PhP2.4 billion or 22%; Water contributed PhP2.3 billion or 21%; and the Hospitals Group provided PhP400 million or 3% of the total.
Consolidated reported net income attributable to owners of the parent company declined by 9% to PhP8.1 billion in the first half of 2019 due to PhP560 million of nonrecurring expenses compared with a PhP341 million gain in 2018; PhP745 million of this swing was due to foreign exchange translation losses in 2019 versus gains in 2018.
“Our 5% growth in contribution from operations reflects meaningful volume increases at most of our businesses following years of high investment and our continuing emphasis on operational efficiencies,” said Jose Ma. K. Lim, President and Chief Executive Officer of MPIC.
Pointing to MPIC’s ambitious investment program in the years ahead, Lim said, “The rise in our borrowing costs has largely offset the increased operating contribution as we continue to make major investments in our new road, water, energy and logistics projects. These will take some time to complete and begin contributing to earnings.”
Lim added, “I am pleased to report that we have achieved meaningful progress in regulatory matters and I anticipate further positive news before the end of the year.”
Lim said he expected volume growth to continue throughout this year and full-year earnings to be in line with 2018.
MPIC’s board of directors declared an interim dividend unchanged at 3.45 centavos per common share, holding it unchanged from the previous period owing to rising CAPEX.
The record date for the interim dividend is August 19, 2019 with a payment date of August 30, 2019.