MANILA – Infrastructure conglomerate, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), on Wednesday reported a 38-percent decline in profit in the first half of 2020 amid the economic contraction brought about by the quarantines to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
MPIC said its core net income reached PHP5.3 billion in January to June from PHP8.7 billion in the first half of 2019, as the quarantine reduced toll road traffic, mandated the suspension of rail services, and decreased commercial and industrial demand for water and power.
Power accounted for PHP5.2 billion or 68 percent of net operating income; Water contributed PHP1.8 billion or 23 percent, and Tollroads shared PHP900 million or 12 percent. MPIC’s other business, being mainly Hospitals, Rail, and Logistics incurred a loss of PHP236 million.
In a virtual press briefing, MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan said he is optimistic about earnings recovery in the second half of 2020 after seeing improvements across-the-board of all businesses “most if not all of them” to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Pangilinan said the quarantine had an impact on business with rail the hardest hit because operations of light rail lines were suspended, while that in the tollways business was “not as severe” as it was at the start of the quarantine.
The government imposed an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon from March 17 to May 15, while it was extended until the end of May for the National Capital Region.
“So we are still hopeful that the second half profit picture will be better than the second quarter and hopefully there is no third wave or even fourth wave (of coronavirus) at the course of the year and again depends when the vaccine could be developed for commercial deployment,” he added.
Pangilinan further said that once the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) is relaxed, “we should see some return to recovery of the business.”
The MECQ was re-imposed in Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal from August 4 to 18 amid the rising Covid-19 cases.
Jose Ma. Lim, president and chief executive officer of MPIC, said “judicious management” of their cash and liquidity position remains a key priority while helping to fund construction of important infrastructure projects the company has embarked on.
“MPIC itself is well funded due to the PHP30.1 billion sell down of our interest in our Hospitals business at the end of 2019 and the sale earlier this year of a 19.2-percent interest in our LRT1 (Light Rail Transit) project for PHP3.0 billion,” he said in a statement. (PNA)
