Performancing Metrics

MPIC sets five-year capex to expand North Harbor

Written by Darwin G. Amojelar - Manila Times Thursday, 04 December 2008 02:05

HONG KONG: Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) plans to allot billions of pesos over five years to expand and modernize the Philippines’ largest and busiest port. Manuel Pangilinan, Metro Pacific chairman, said the company’s preliminary estimate for its North Harbor investment is about P5 billion to P6 billion in the next five years. He said the money would be used to finance port rehabilitation and expansion.

“We are finalizing the concession agreement. Hopefully by December we could finalize the terms on our investment in North Harbor,” he told reporters.

The local unit of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. would operate the port for the next 25 years with provisions for renewal in order to provide it with reasonable time to recover its investments.

Metro Pacific has partnered with Regis Romero’s Harbour Center Port Terminal Inc. Under their agreement, Harbour Centre and Metro Pacific would each own a 50-percent stake in the consortium that would run North Harbor.

The North Harbor’s terminal 1 would service roll-on-roll-off container and passenger vessels. Its terminal 2 would service container and passenger vessel, while terminal 3 would be allotted to conventional, non-containerized, bulk or break bulk vessels and passenger vessels.

Metro Pacific recently announced that it plans to issue P1.5 billion in preferred shares and another P3 billion in common shares to raise money to fund new acquisitions.

Pangilinan said cash raised from the issue would fund other toll road acquisitions, the North Harbor Modernization Project and hospitals.

Metro Pacific earlier acquired 67 percent of the Manila North Tollways Corp. and 46 percent of Tollways Management Corp. The First Pacific unit also has a stake in Makati Medical Center and other hospitals in the country.

In the first nine months, the company posted a net income of P660 million, a turnaround from the net loss of P218.4 million in the same period last year.

The company attributed the robust improvement in core income for the period to the strong performance of Maynilad Water Services Inc. and the contribution of Medical Doctors Inc. as well as Davao Doctors Hospital Inc.

Maynilad’s core income reached P1.75 billion, while Makati Med contributed P59.2 million and Davao Doctors, P17.7 million to the holding firm’s profits.