Manila Water accelerates expansion program

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Manila Water accelerates expansion program

Ayala-controlled Manila Water Company Inc. is revving up the expansion of its roster of subsidiaries both in the Philippines and abroad in an effort to spread risks through a drive to diversify its portfolio.

Gerardo C. Ablaza Jr., Manila Water president and chief, said in a briefing the drive is focused on possible domesticprojects but the company is persisting on pursuing overseas opportunities, particularly within Southeast Asia.

"We are prioritizing our local expansion and setting our sights on markets that each has a population of at least half a million," Ablaza said. "There are 10 to 15 such areas in the country."

The Manila Water chief explained that the threshold population size is about half of the group's mainbusiness which is the east zone concession in Metro Manila. In this, Manila Water is serving 922,000 customers as of end-2013.

The company currently has three operating subsidiaries, namely, Boracay Island Water Co. Inc., Clark Water Corp. and Laguna AAA Water Corp.

A fourth one, the majority-owned Cebu Manila Water Development Inc., is set to launch formally itsservices to consumers this coming June.

Ablaza said Manila Water's business units—including three in the Philippines and two in Vietnam—are already contributing about P600 million, or about a tenth of the group's netincome of some P5.8 billion, in 2013.

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