Metro Pacific sees core income topping P16.1-b target for 2023

By Jenniffer B. Austria

METRO Pacific Investments Corp. said Monday it will likely exceed the P16.1billion core net income target for 2023 as major toll roads, and water businesses surpassed their targets in the first half.

MPIC chief finance officer Chaye Cabal-Revilla said in a news briefing the company’s 2023 core net income would also likely top the P15.6 billion record core net income achieved before the prepandemic.

“We are trending to exceed our targets for this year given the good results of our core business. Our target was P16.1 billion before, so we will likely exceed that,”

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY.

12C4 Bread Station, a chain of friendly neighborhood bakeries, goes to Cebu City and opens its newest branch along V. Rama Avenue.

Known for its ‘always fresh and hot breads, the newest branch is a welcome addition to Cebu business community. Shown are business partners Chique Magpayo and Jennifer Yu Teson in front of the newly-opened bakery.

12C4 Bread Station started as a stand-alone kiosk in Valenzuela City during the pandemic and rapidly expanded to more areas to meet rising demand in communities.

Cabal-Revilla said.

MPIC’s core net income climbed 33 percent year-on-year to P9.9 billion in the first half on improved operating results from toll road, power and water businesses.

Net income in the first semester also rose 8 percent to P10.2 billion from P9.5 billion in the same period last year which had the benefit of gains from the acquisition of Landco PacificCorp. Among the company’s core businesses, power had the largest share at P9 billion or

72 percent of net operating income, while toll roads and water contributed P2.7 billion and P2.3 billion, respectively.

“Our consistently strong performance reflects significant volume increases for our core businesses on power, toll roads and water, bolstered by favorable tariff adjustments and savings resulting from operational efficiencies. We are also realizing the fruits of strategic investments in the power generation business, and we expect this to continue to be a driver of growth in the future,” said MPIC chairman, president and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan.

Meanwhile, toll road unit Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. is looking to re-list in the Philippine Stock Exchange by next year.

MPTC president and chief executive Rogelio Singson said the planned share sale would depend on how fast it could get ongoing projects done and have the committed tariff ready for implementation.

Singson said MPTC plans to use the proceeds from the initial public offering to repay its debt amounting to P140 billion.

Water utility firm Maynilad Water Services Inc. is also preparing to hold an IPO in 2025, two years ahead of the deadline.

DOTr to open bidding for NAIA rehabilitation project next week

THE Department of Transportation said Monday it will start inviting bidders for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport next week.

“We’re in the process of finalizing the terms of reference and hopefully by next week we will be able to publish the TOR and invite prospective bidders,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said during the Philippine economic briefing in Laoag City.

The DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority will serve as co-grantors for the project, which would have a 15-year concession and an option for a 10-year extension.

The agency expects to award the P170-billion contract for NAIA rehabilitation by end-2023.

It said the project aims to address longstanding issues at NAIA such as the inadequate capacity of passenger terminal buildings and restricted aircraft movement.

It also intends to increase the annual airport capacity from 35 million to at least 62 million passengers and raise air traffic movement from 40 to 48 per hour.

The project is also expected to improve the overall passenger experience and service quality to prevent long queues, lengthy waiting times and other passenger inconveniences.

It will broaden NAIA’s role as a key economic and tourism driver for Metro Manila and the whole Philippines, deliver capital infrastructure investment to improve the airport’s efficiency and increase its capacity to meet the growing passenger demand from the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region.

The National Economic and Development Authority board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., earlier approved the solicited proposal to rehabilitate, operate, expand and transfer the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It is now known as the Solicited NAIA PPP Project.

Darwin G. Amojelar

PLDT, GCash vow to work with military, gov’t agencies to combat cyberattacks

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE PLDT Group vowed to work closely with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to bolster the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure against attacks, including those believed to be state-sponsored.

PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications chairman Manuel Pangilinan said during the Philippine Air Force’s Castle Siege 2 cybersecurity exercise that cybersecu- rity stakeholders should establish and improve communication lines.

“Whether it’s sharing threat intelligence, best practices, joint simulation exercises, we need to come together in order to protect our shared cyberspace together.

The quality of attacks has leveled up in sophistication,” Pangilinan said.

The Philippines is now being bombarded with cyber-attacks daily. PLDT said that in the first half of the year, the group thwarted more than 5.5 billion cyber-attacks and attempts to breach its digital network.

Pangilinan underscored the importance of upskilling cyber warriors. “Plans and strategies work best if we have the right teams and the right personnel to back these up. We need to bolster the ranks of our cyber warriors,” he said.

Meanwhile, GCash, the mobile wallet of Globe Telecom, lauded the successful operations of the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group against cybercriminals.

“GCash is supportive of the operations of the DOJ, NBI and PNP-ACG in going after perpetrators. We are an active partner of our law enforcement agencies as we exchange technical knowledge and expertise on the latest cybersecurity measures,” said Atty. Maria Corazon AlvarezAdriano, chief legal officer of GCash.

The company attributed the income growth to a gain of P278.8 million from the sale of investment property. Other sources of income were a gain of P75.8 million from the sale of an investment in a subsidiary and interest income of P10.8 million.

ABA’s net income in the first half represented 77 percent of its operating income for 2022 — a testament to the momentum the company is enjoying with regards to the business ventures it signed in recent years.

“ABA’s most recent financial performance shows that we are on the right track in terms of diversifying our operations across various sectors. This should lead to ABA generating more income and providing better returns for shareholders,” said Antonio VF Gregorio III , vice-chairman and vice-president of investor relations at ABA.

“As we move towards the succeeding quarters, we will continue to leverage our strengths — which include us being the investment gateway in Batangas and our expertise across the various markets we operate in,” he said.

Alsons’ first-half profit increased 70% to P1.17b

By Alena Mae S. Flores

ALSONS Consolidated Resources Inc., the publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group, saw first-half net earnings rise 70 percent to P1.17 billion from P689 million a year ago, led by the strong performance of power units.

Alsons said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday net earnings in the second quarter also increased 65 percent to P605.28 million from P364.93 million a year earlier.

Net income attributable to the parent grew 91 percent to P346.14 million in the first half from P180.68 million last year. Second-quarter attributable net earnings reached P255.98 million, up by 182 percent from P90.51 million a year ago.

Alsons said revenues rose to P6.9 billion in the first six months from P5.4 billion generated in the same period in 2022. Second-quarter revenues were also higher at P3.6 billion, compared to P2.73 billion last year.

The company said its 210-megawatt Sarangani Energy Corp. baseload power plant and the 100-MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. continued to be income drivers.

WMPC is the only major power generation facility in the Zamboanga Peninsula, providing power to Zamboanga City and supplying vital ancillary services to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to help stabilize the power grid in Western Mindanao.

Alsons said it focused on building up renewable capacity in the next few years as part of its revenue and generation diversification program.

The company is developing the 14.5MW Siguil hydro power plant in Maasim, Sarangani which is expected to begin operations before the end of this year.