East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Co. Inc. expects to tap Laguna de Bay by late-2012 as part of a plan to harness water sources as an alternative to the Angat Dam, its top official said on Monday.
Manila Water president Gerardo Ablaza Jr. said the plan could potentially generate another 50 million liters per day (MLD) to 150 MLD.
“We feel this is a fast way of coming up with an alternative water source. It could be active in 18 to 20 months,” the company official told reporters in a press briefing on Monday. He declined to give financial details, saying the contract for the project will be bidded out “soon.”
This comes parallel to the Ayala-led utility’s plan to tap longer-term water sources, particularly river networks in nearby provinces, together with West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. Ablaza said the companies are still determining viable river networks.
Manila Water shares rose 2.1 percent to P18.50 each, giving the company a market value of P37.19 billion.
In the meantime, the outlook for the rest of the year remains favorable, with the utility not expecting the same supply “challenges” present in 2010, when a natural phenomenon caused levels at the Angat Dam to drop below normal.
Full-year billed water volume in the East Zone, however, is expected to remain flat, Ablaza noted. Total volume last year rose 3.5 percent to 409.8 million cubic meters.
Demand, which tends to pick up during the summer months, has also been slower compared with last year given the cooler weather, the company executive added.
“But we still expect this to pick up sometime later this month,” Ablaza said.
Expansion abroad, particularly in India and Vietnam, is also expected to continue, the company said on Monday.
Manila Water expects to participate in the bidding for a water-service project in Bangalore, India, with results to be known by May. It also wants to expand its presence in Vietnam and is studying opportunities in Indonesia.
Manila Water last week secured P10 billion selling corporate notes to partly fund systems improvements and expansion. The company declared a cash dividend of P0.28 to common shareholders. The dividends will be paid on May 19 to stockholders of record as of April 27.
Manila Water said net income last year rose 23.12 percent to P3.98 billion, as revenue hit P11.01 billion from P9.53 billion in 2009. Nonrevenue water, a measure of wastage, was reduced by 4.8 percentage points to 11 percent in 2010. Service connections increased by 13 percent to 813,942, serving 1.16 million households.
Areas under Manila Water include parts of Manila, San Juan, Taguig, Pateros, Antipolo, Taytay, Jala-Jala, Baras, Angono, San Mateo, Rodriquez, Marikina, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Makati and most of Quezon City.
