In Manila
Lumen Balboa
Phone: +(632) 843 7333
Email: lbalboa@ifc.org

In Hong Kong
Andrew Mak
Phone: +(852) 2509 8183
Email: amak@ifc.org

In Washington, D.C.
Ann Pasco
(Phone): +(202) 473 9167
Email: apasco@ifc.org


Manila, December 13, 2006 – The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will provide a $30 million corporate loan to Manila Water Company to help it develop new water sources, expand its sewerage and sanitation services to low-income areas of metropolitan Manila, and improve and maintain its existing water networks. This will improve health and quality of life for some of the city’s poorest residents. MWC is the private sector concessionaire for Metro Manila’s eastern zone, where many low-income households still do not have access to a steady supply of potable water.

At the signing, Richard Ranken, IFC’s Director for East Asia and the Pacific, said, “This investment in the Philippine water sector demonstrates IFC’s strategy of continued private sector participation in infrastructure development, particularly in providing clean and affordable water supply to ordinary households.”

IFC’s financing comprises a long-term corporate loan facility, flexibly structured to be drawn in multiple currencies, including Philippine pesos.  The loan, which will partly fund MWC’s capital spending program over the next three years, is IFC’s third financing to the company.  It follows an equity investment in 2004, which supported the company’s initial public offering on the Philippines Stock Exchange.  

Francisco Tourreilles, IFC’s Director for Infrastructure, said, “This investment shows IFC’s continued long-term support to and partnership with MWC, a company that is recognized globally as a leader in providing high-quality, reliable, and affordable water. Over many years, the success of Manila Water has helped improve the health and quality of life in the less affluent segments of the city, where the company has its operations.”

“Poor families, particularly those living in informal settlements, are the most affected by inadequate water service. Through the Tubig Para Sa Barangay (Water for Communities) program, Manila Water provides services to lower-income households.  This has benefited about 935,000 consumers since the program’s inception in 1998.  This additional IFC investment will help us expand the program and connect many more underprivileged households,” said MWC president Antonino T. Aquino.

About IFC
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral provider of financing for private enterprise in developing countries. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to businesses and governments. From its founding in 1956 through FY06, IFC has committed more than $56 billion of its own funds for private sector investments in the developing world and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. With the support of funding from donors, it has also provided more than $1 billion in technical assistance and advisory services. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About MWC
A publicly listed company, MWC’s shareholders include the Ayala Corporation (with a 32 percent share), as well as BPI Capital, IFC, Japan's Mitsubishi Corp, and the United Kingdom's United Utilities Plc . MWC won a competitive tender in 1997 to operate the eastern water and wastewater concession that serves about 5.5 million people in metro Manila. Since then, the company has invested over $338 million, part of which was used to rehabilitate inherited facilities. To date, MWC has provided water connection to over 2 million additional people, nearly half of whom have low-incomes and live in informal settler communities. The company has increased the percentage of its service area receiving water 24 hours a day to 97 percent from 26 percent when it first started. It has also made large strides in efficiency by reducing the volume of system losses from 63 percent to 30.4 percent as of September 2006.  MWC has also streamlined manpower, assigning two employees per connection today, compared with more than six per connection in 1997.