Businessman Manuel Pangilinan said Monday the outlook for the second half is “quite good” despite the prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
“So we’re guardedly optimistic for the second half, but on the whole, we expect overall performance to be quite good for the second half of 2020,” Pangilinan, managing director and chief executive of First Pacific Co., said.
First Pacific Company has investments in telecommunications, power, water, infrastructure and hospitals in the Philippines.
“It’s a chance to reposition the group and rebuild it in the digital world. I think we are ahead of others in this regard,” said Pangilinan, who is the chairman of PLDT Inc., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Manila Electric Co. and Maynilad Water Services Inc.
Pangilinan said PLDT proved to be a standout amid the pandemic, outpacing performances in its power and water businesses which turned in lower growth.
“The advantage we have in our portfolio is that our three basic businesses cater to the basic needs of the people—power, water and telecoms,” said Pangilinan.
“Because of the recession, demand has generally been down, especially in the second quarter, albeit only moderately for power and water for this period. The main exception is the telco business because revenues have been robust for the first half,” he said.
Pangilinan said while the transport business was the hardest hit in the group’s portfolio as restrictive quarantine measures kept commuters away, the toll road business recently saw a recovery in traffic from the initial drop in April.
“Traffic went down to as low as 10 percent of pre-COVID 19 levels. It has now been restored to 80 percent. It’s cash flow positive,” he said.
Pangilinan said, however, the negative economic growth posed risks on people’s ability to pay for basic services.
“Demand will always be there because those are very basic requirements. So the question is whether it will continue to grow, or there will be reasons that will cause demand to drop off simply because people may have lesser means to pay,” he said.
Infrastructure holding firm MPIC, which has interests in Meralco, Maynilad and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., saw a 38-percent decline in core net income in the first half while Meralco posted a 14-percent decline in core income.
Power accounted for P5.2 billion or 68 percent of MPIC’s net operating income while toll roads contributed P915 million or 12 percent. Water added P1.8 billion or 23 percent.
