Mla Water to restructure Clark Water’s capital

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Manila Water said yesterday it will restructure the equity base of its wholly-owned subsidiary Clark Water Corp.

In a regulatory filing, Manila Water said the board of Clark Water “approved and authorized” the restructuring of the company’s capital stock.

 “The equity restructuring notwithstanding, Clark Water will continue to be wholly-owned by the company. Moreover, Clark Water will continue to be compliant with its service obligations under its own concession agreement,” Manila Water said.

Clark Water was formed in 2000 in partnership with the Clark Development Corporation (CDC ), the administrative and governing body of the Clark Freeport Zone and the Clark Special Economic Zone, to provide stable water supply in the area.

Clark Water signed last month with CDC a contract for the extension of its concession agreement by another 15 years or up to 2040 from the original concession period of 2025.

Clark Water has pledged to invest around P5 billion to improve water and wastewater services in the area for the duration of the agreement.

Alongside the extension of the concession agreement, Clark Water has created business plan which will serve as its project roadmap until the end of its concession period.

The bulk of the investment would be used for the development of new water sources  such as deep well and infiltration wells and collection of used water.

Studies would also be done to tap surface water.

This year, Clark Water has completed three new deep wells, upgraded three booster pumps, and installed generator sets on its old water sources to improve and strengthen supply reliability.

In the first semester of the year, Clark Water registered a 17 percent increase in billed volume to 5.5 million cubic meters from 4.7 million cubic meters.

Its water service connections rose two percent to 1,971 connections in the first semester of the year from 1,932 in the same period last year.