Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) reported a 13 percent improvement in consolidated core net income to P6.0 billion for the first half of 2021 from P5.3 billion in the same period last year.
In a press briefing, MPIC President Jose Ma. K. Lim said “This is a substantial improvement from the 26 percent decline in the first quarter of 2021 and was driven largely by improved traffic on its toll roads and higher volume of electricity sold.” Core net income for the second quarter of P3.5 billion was 37 percent higher quarter-on-quarter and climbed 82 percent from P1.9 billion during the same period in 2020.
The firm said this acceleration of growth reflects an improvement in performance notwithstanding the continued imposition of varying levels of quarantine across the country.
It was also partially augmented by the impact of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives (CREATE) Law which lowered income tax rates from 30 percent to 25 percent.
MPIC Chief Finance Officer June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla said this lower tax payments by a consolidated P600 million.
Consolidated reported attributable net income rose 243 percent to P10.4 billion arising from the gain recognized from the sale of Global Business Power and Don Muang Tollways.
“We are encouraged by the pace of growth that we are seeing across our core businesses. Because of the essential nature of our services, it is clear that MPIC directly benefits from the country’s gradual economic recovery as industries continue to resume operations amidst less restrictive quarantine measures,” said Lim.
He noted that, “Years of sustained investments in upgrading our infrastructure networks have allowed us to keep service levels intact despite restrictions brought about by the pandemic.”
Lim added that, "With our robust expansion pipeline coupled with the successive resolutions of our regulatory hurdles, MPIC is well-positioned to unlock further value from its portfolio moving forward.”
MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said that, “Despite threats of recurring stringent quarantine measures, we are confident that our Core Net Income guidance of at least P12.0 billion for full year 2021 is still attainable.”
“We are seeing that people are no longer letting the virus run their lives and are able to bounce back more quickly than we did during the start of the pandemic. As such, we expect that the volumes of our core businesses will continue to recover towards the end of the year with the continuous inoculation efforts for the rest of the population,” he added.
Contribution from operations rose 11 percent to P8.5 billion with power accounting for P5.4 billion or 63 percent of the total, toll roads with P1.9 billion or 22 percent, and water with P1.4 billion.
Other businesses, mainly Light Rail and Logistics came up with an overall loss of P94 million owing to the continuing impact of the pandemic on the ridership of LRT-1 and the ongoing recalibration of warehousing operations; partially offset by the Hospital Group’s contribution of P142 million.