MPIC may surpass P22.4-B core income target — CFO

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) may exceed its core net income target for this year, its chief financial officer (CFO) said on Thursday.

“The trend would mean that we would be exceeding our target for 2024. If you ask about target, it’s P22.4 billion (in core net income). We’re already at P20.8 billion (in core net income), so we’re near that,” MPIC Executive Vice-President and Chief Finance, Risk, and Sustainability Officer June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla said during a briefing.

The company recorded a 44% increase in its attributable net income for the first nine months of the year to P23.13 billion from P16.06 billion a year ago on additional nonrecurring gains from the group’s real estate business.

January-to-September consolidated core net income improved by 28% to a record high P20.8 billion from P16.2 billion in 2023, Ms. Cabal-Revilla said.

“We actually closed our year-to-date numbers with very good numbers, mirroring the trends that we’ve had in the first half,” she said.

Operating revenue climbed by 20% to P53.76 billion from P44.79 billion last year.

The power business took the largest share of net operating income at 63% or P15.3 billion, while the toll roads and water segments accounted for P5.1 billion and P4.5 billion, respectively, equivalent to 39% of the total.

“Our power, toll roads, and water business continued to deliver double-digit growth in earnings on the back of strong volumes and the impact of long overdue tariff adjustments,” MPIC Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

The group’s power business, led by Manila Electric Co., recorded a 19% growth in its nine-month reported net income to P33.8 billion as revenue climbed by 6% to P355.4 billion. Energy sales grew by 7% to 40,872 gigawatt-hours.

Consolidated core net income grew by 17% to P35.1 billion on higher contributions from power generation, retail electricity supply, and non-power businesses.

For its toll road segment, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. recorded a 28% increase in nine-month core net income to P5.2 billion on a higher share in net earnings of equity-accounted Vietnam and Indonesian toll roads.

Toll revenue surged by 16% to P23 billion due to toll rate increases in all markets and traffic growth in the Philippines.

The average daily vehicle entries in the Philippines rose by 6% to 693,409, while Vietnam and Indonesia vehicle entries dropped by 2% and 1% to 76,951 and 1.22 million, respectively.

West zone water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. recorded a 37% jump in core net income to P9.3 billion on lower operating expenses.

Revenue increased by 23% to P24.9 billion, carried by a 3% improvement in billed volumes and a 20% tariff adjustment in January.

“All our businesses are investing heavily in service quality and operational efficiency to improve the lives of our customers while at the same time growing our sales and core profitability to create value for our investors. With MPIC continuing to maintain a low cost of capital, the company is poised to maintain its very strong growth trajectory for the rest of the year,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

MPIC is one of the three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

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