Maynilad allots P4b this year to reduce non-revenue water

By Othel V. Campos

MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. is spending P4 billion in 2023 to reduce non-revenue water in the west zone of the Greater Manila Area, up by 25 percent from its NRW capital expenditure of P3.2 billion in 2022.

“We are accelerating our NRW Management projects this year so that we can recover more water supply for distribution to customers, in preparation for El Niño,” said Maynilad chief operating officer Randolph Estrellado.

Maynilad recovered 47 million liters per day of water in the first quarter of 2023, owing to the company’s water loss reduction initiatives. The recovered volume is enough to serve the supply requirements of as many as 241,000 people.

The company said that from January to March 2023, it replaced 31 kilometers of old pipelines and repaired of 7,832 pipe leaks in Quezon City, Manila, Muntinlupa and Las Piñas that significantly reduced its NRW.

Some of the improvements included a major leak repair along Osmeña High- way corner Zobel Roxas St. in Makati City, which yielded a water recovery of 17 MLD.

Maynilad also started the reactivation of 45 deep wells across the west zone with plans to commission two modular treatment plants in Cavite province, while tapping additional cross-border points with Manila Water in preparation for the El Niño dry spell.

The water company is also overseeing the construction of an auxiliary filtration system at Putatan Water Treatment Plant and sees through the operation of a

By Jenni er B. Austria

PROPERTY developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. said Monday net income grew 27 percent in the first quarter to P9.4 billion from P7.4 billion in the same period last year, lifted by a double-digit growth in revenues. First-quarter consolidated sales rose 20 percent to P28.7 billion from P23.9 billion on strong sales from its mall business. Consolidated operating income went up 30 percent to P13.9 billion from P10.7 billion.

“We are pleased to report a strong first-quarter consolidated financial performance on SM Prime’s business. This is a testament to the resilience of our businesses and the hard work and dedication of our employees. Particularly, our recurring businesses have remarkably bounced back after being hit by the mobility restrictions and economic disruptions,” SMPH president

“Signing this agreement with Unity is consistent with our endeavor to promote capital efficiency and prudence in our transactions. We keep our shareholders and customers’ welfare in mind by finding the right balance of funding sources and transformational projects designed to steer the company towards the digital forefront,” Globe chief finance officer Rizza Maniego-Eala said.

The tower assets consist of 84-percent ground-based towers and 16-percent rooftop towers. The sale comes with a commitment to build over 200 towers across Visayas and/ or Mindanao.

The towers, which are all located in Luzon, will be leased back to Globe for an initial period of 15 years. The first close for the portfolio is targeted to occur in the third quarter of 2023, with subsequent closings happening as and when closing conditions are met. Globe estimates the pretax net transaction gain from the transaction to be P1.8 billion. Darwin G. Amojelar

ICTSI’s profit grew by 9% to $154.61m in 1st quarter

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services Inc. said Monday net income grew by 9 percent in the first quarter on the back of higher operating income. The port operator said net income amounted to $154.61 million from January to March, higher than $142.28 million it booked in the same period last year. Revenue from port operations reached $572.25 million, an increase of 8 percent from $528.27 million reported a year earlier.

“These results have been driven by our diversified portfolio and continued focus on margins, and they have been achieved against a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop,” said ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr.

“Looking ahead, whilst we remain cautious of continued uncertainty, ICTSI is a strong and agile business differentiated by our strategy in origin and destination gateway terminals as well as an experienced team with a sharp focus on operational discipline, which positions us well for future growth,” he said. Darwin G. Amojelar

Alternergy awards EPC contract for solar project

LISTED Alternergy Holdings Corp. said Monday it awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the 20-megawatt Solana solar power project in Hermosa, Bataan of whollyowned subsidiary Solana Solar Alpha.

Alternergy said it awarded the EPC contract to JGC Philippines Inc., the largest overseas EPC subsidiary of Japan’s JGC Group.

SSAI also issued the notice to proceed with the early work activities.

new water treatment plant in Poblacion, Muntinlupa City.

It said the additional supply to be generated from the said projects would help improve supply reliability for some 700,000 Maynilad customers in parts of Manila, Parañaque, Pasay, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas and Cavite.

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is the concessionaire of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System for the west zone of the Greater Manila Area.

In First Quarter

Jeffrey Lim said. The company’s Philippine mall business posted an 88-percent increase in first-quarter revenues to P15.4 billion from P8.2 billion a year earlier.

Malls’ rental income soared 72 percent to P13 billion because of an increase in tenant sales and foot traffic and the full charging of rental fees that the company has implemented since the second half of 2022.

The China mall business also registered revenues of RMB0.2 billion in the first three months of 2023, almost the same level as last year’s.

Meanwhile, SMPH’s residential business under SM Development Corp. posted P8.5 billion in revenues, down 29 percent from last year’s P12 billion partly because of canceled sales as an effect of high inflation, rising domestic interest rates and the lapse of Bayanihan Law.

The company said, however, that cancellations were beginning to moderate in the first quarter of 2023.

Metro Pacific buying P24b worth of shares to increase stake in SP New Energy to 43%

METRO Pacific Investments Corp. is increasing its stake in renewable company SP New Energy Corp. to 43 percent for P24 billion.

SPNEC said in a stock exchange filing Monday its board approved an option agreement that would allow MPIC to acquire another 17.4 billion SPNEC shares including 10 billion primary shares for P12.5 billion and 7.4 billion secondary shares for P9.25 billion.

The option agreement is subject to SPNEC’s increase in authorized capital stock to P50 billion from P10 billion.

The parties signed the option agreement on May 5 after MPIC completed the purchase of 1.6 billion common shares, equivalent to 16-percent stake in SPNEC. MPIC acquired the shares from SPNEC’s parent firm Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc.

“Our thrust of pursuing renewable energy brings the MVP Group one step closer to ful- filling our mission of creating long-term value for our stakeholders through responsible and sustainable investments,” MPIC chairman and president Manuel Pangilinan said during the signing of of the option agreement. SPNEC said it plans to expedite the acquisition of shares of SPPPHI in various entities and funding of its developments, with the goal of making SPNEC the largest renewable energy company in the Philippines.

Its solar project in Nueva Ecija could be the largest in Asia.

“We have long seen a partnership with MPIC to be the key to unlock the potential of our project pipeline. We are humbled and grateful for this opportunity, and believe that SPNEC now has the final ingredients to realize the value of our developments for the benefit of all stakeholders,” SPNEC and SPPPHI chief executive Leandro Leviste said. Jenniffer B. Austria

“We are excited to move forward with the construction of the Solana project, part of the Alternergy Group’s triple play portfolio,” said Alternergy chairman Vicente Pérez Jr. JGC serves industries including power, petroleum refining, petrochemicals, metals and minerals= and biofuels. It has completed solar plants with a capacity of about 800 MW and another 170 MW under construction. JGC Philippines was selected after a competitive bidding process involving six companies from China, Germany, India and Japan. Alena Mae S. Flores

Ex-DICT

A FORMER official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology called for “definitive and decisive action” on the reported massive data breach involving the Philippine National Police and other line government agencies.

Erstwhile DICT undersecretary for policy and legal affairs Jose Vicente Salazar said the reported data breach underscores the need to further strengthen safety nets against “unauthorized and therefore illegal intrusions into confidential information, both private and public, that may put lives and property in serious jeopardy.”

“At stake here is not only security of the people in particular, but also security of the state as a whole. Identity theft may become rampant and committed with impunity across the country, but what is more alarming is the possibility of a threat to national security because confidential information falls in the hands of the wrong people,” Salazar said.

He said the alleged data breach was a “very serious matter that needs to be decisively addressed.” Salazar was also an undersecretary at the Department of Justice.

The DICT said it launched its own investigation into the alleged data breach involving over 1.2 million records of law enforcement agencies including the PNP.

The DICT said its Cybersecurity Bureau and National Computer Emergency Response Team intensified its inquiry into the matter.

“The DICT considers the incident as a grave concern that threatened the confidentiality, integrity, and privacy of user data. The department assures the public that investigation on the matter is underway,” the DICT said in a statement.