CONGLOMERATE Metro Pacific Investments Corp. on Wednesday said its core income fell 34 percent to P10.2 billion from the previous year’s P15.6 billion as its businesses suffered from minimal toll road traffic, suspended and then reduced light rail services, and lower commercial and industrial demand for water and power.
Operating revenues fell 17 percent to P40.85 billion from last year’s P49.27 billion, as contributions from its various operations dropped 26 percent.
Power accounted for P10.5 billion or 69 percent, water contributed P3.1 billion or 20 percent, toll roads at P2.4 billion or 16 percent. Other businesses, mainly hospitals, light rail and logistics, incurred an overall loss of P709 million.
“While earnings—for the first time in our history—have been less than ideal, we purposely directed our focus on service continuity amidst the pandemic. Together with our partners in Government, we worked tirelessly to ensure that every Filipino has access to the essential services we offer especially at the height of this crisis,” Jose Ma. K. Lim, MPIC president said.
“We have come through the most difficult year we have ever seen as the operations of our portfolio companies have been significantly affected by the pandemic. At the parent level however, we endeavored to preserve our balance sheet and optimize capital allocation as evidenced by our recent asset monetization efforts. It is difficult to ascertain the pace of growth in economic activity so we believe it is prudent to ensure that our financial position is robust and can sustain operations and expansion even in a prolonged period of recovery,” he said.
The power generation and distribution business under Manila Electric Co. saw revenues drop 14 percent reflecting lower pass-through generation charges from reduced wholesale electricity spot market prices because of improved supply conditions and cheaper fuel prices.
The total energy sales meanwhile was down 7 percent.
The power generation business under Global Business Power saw its sale volume increase 2 percent to 4,929 Gigawatt hour on the strength of additional power supply and ancillary service agreements that commenced in the latter part of 2019.
This, however, failed to push the unit’s topline which posted a 13-percent drop to to P21.1 billion due to lower WESM prices and demand.
Revenues from Maynilad Water Services Inc. slipped 4 percent to P22.9 billion with lower average tariffs.
The hospital business under Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. saw its revenues drop 7 percent to P14.8 billion, with in-patient admissions down 46 percent to 106,546; while out-patient visits dropped 36 percent to 2.5 million as patients opted to defer elective procedures . MPIC’s hospital unit operates the largest private hospital network in the Philippines with 18 hospitals and six cancer centers nationwide.
“We have persevered in our commitment to our country, proceeding with our infrastructure projects where possible despite pandemic-related restrictions and risks. Years of sustained capital investments have proven that we are resilient and robust enough to withstand a crisis. There is no room for complacency. We are therefore most grateful to all our incredible people, from our hardworking management to our courageous front-line employees, who have all delivered their best during these difficult times,” Manuel Pangilinan, MPIC chairman said.
“We recognize the impact of the pandemic on our 2020 results. However, it should strongly be noted that we remained steady in investing for the future while continuing to deliver decent returns to our shareholders, employees, business partners, and the communities we engage and serve. We keep our stakeholders at the heart of every decision we make. We look forward to the gradual recovery of our operations in 2021 spurred by increased economic activity in the country. We will continue to do our part as partners of the government in enabling growth in Philippine infrastructure,” he said.