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THE Bank
of the Philippine Islands (BPI) yesterday signed a
cash-management deal with Manila Water Co. to manage P9
billion in annual collection of the water-utility firm
from 5 million customers in Eastern Metro Manila.
The bank said the water distributor
would earn more in interest from its cash flows under
the management deal.
Manila Water president Antonio Aquino
said in an interview after the signing that the deal
will help his company focus on its core business by
reducing time spent in handling collections from payment
centers.
“We would like to be more focused on our
core business, and that is providing better water
services. Banks count cash every day and that is their
core business, so why not let them do it for us?” he
said.
BPI said its customer base for cash
management went up by 34 percent in 2007 since it
shifted focus on small and medium-scale enterprise. BPI
is the country’s biggest bank in terms of
capitalization.
Manila Water said its net income rose 22
percent to P625 million in the first quarter of the year
from a year earlier boosted by higher revenues.
The Ayala-led water firm said its total
revenues for the three-month period went up 16 percent
in the same period last year because of a 5-percent
increase in billed volume and “improvements in operating
efficiency.”
It said system losses, or nonrevenue
water, dropped to 22.9 percent from 26.2 percent. |
