Manila Water ups Singapore investment

AYALA-LED Manila Water Company, Inc. will infuse additional equity investment in its Singapore unit, the utility said in a disclosure yesterday.

  Manila Water said that, in a meeting yesterday, its board of directors “authorized the infusion of additional equity investment in its wholly owned Singapore subsidiary, the Manila Water Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. in the amount of $45,000 for its operational purposes.”

Manila Water Asia Pacific was established in 2010 as a holding company of the utility’s operation elsewhere in Asia and the Pacific. It currently covers the company’s operations in Vietnam through subsidiaries Manila Water South Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. (MWSAH); Thu Duc Water Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Kenh Dong Water Holdings Pte. Ltd.

In August last year, MWSAH signed an investment agreement to acquire 31.47% of the outstanding capital stock of Saigon Water Infrastructure Corp., which engages in construction of water and wastewater infrastructure.

Manila Water Asia Pacific’s two other subsidiaries have 49% stake in Thu Duc Water B.O.O. Corp. and 47.35% in Kenh Dong Water Supply Joint Stock Co. — which are both water suppliers in Vietnam.

Apart from the equity investment in the Singapore unit, Manila Water’s board likewise declared cash dividends of 40.31 centavos per share on its outstanding common shares and 4.03 centavos per share on its outstanding participating preferred shares. The dividends will be distributed to shareholders on March 21.

Manila Water primarily provides water and wastewater services to the east zone concession area covering the cities of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina; parts of Manila and Quezon City, as well as some areas in Rizal province. The company’s three local subsidiaries that operate outside its concession area in the country are located in Laguna, Boracay and Pampanga.