RAZON-LED Manila Water Co., Inc. has signed a 10-year term loan facility worth P10 billion with China Banking Corp. to fund its projects, the east zone concessionaire said on Wednesday.
“The loan will be used to finance Manila Water’s capital expenditure (capex) projects,” the company said in a stock exchange disclosure.
In 2022, Manila Water said that it had earmarked P181 billion in total planned expenditures, with P105 billion for capex for water and wastewater projects and P76 billion for operating expenditures.
As of September, the company’s capex reached P16.7 billion, with the east zone concession accounting for 90% of the total capex at P15.1 billion.
In December last year, Manila Water secured a P7 billion term loan facility with Land Bank of the Philippines and a P10-billion loan extended by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.
Both 10-year term loan facilities were intended to fund capex projects.
In a separate statement, Manila Water said it is upgrading its biological nutrient removal (BNR) system at its East Avenue Sewage Treatment Plant in Quezon City.
The P676-million BNR Retrofit Project will regulate the discharge of harmful nutrients such as ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates into the environment.
“BNR systems are vital in ensuring that wastewater plant discharges will not harm marine life, decrease oxygen, and cause algal blooms in waterways,” the company said.
The project is targeted to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2024.
For the nine months ending in September, Manila Water posted an attributable net income of P10.1 billion, higher by 39.1% from last year’s P7.26 billion.
Tariff adjustments for its east zone concession and several of its non-east zone operations in the Philippines continued to provide strong top line support, which rose by 19% to P27.5 billion.
Manila Water serves the east zone network of Metro Manila, covering parts of Marikina, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Pateros, Mandaluyong, San Juan, portions of Quezon City and Manila, and several towns in Rizal province. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
