Calapan Ventures debuts in PSE, eyes water services upgrades

Water utilities holding firm Calapan Ventures Inc. (CVI) debuts in the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday with the listing of 162,161,000 of its common shares under the “H2O" trading symbol. CVI has three subsidiaries: Calapan Water, Tabuk Water and Kristal Water. It said in its prospectus that proceeds of the public offering of its shares will be used to finance various projects. Some P52.5 million will be for the expansion of storage facilities, “particularly for the construction of one overhead reservoir and the installation of transmission and distribution lines from the reservoir to the water system." For zoning works in 26 barangays, CVI intends to spend P92.85 million. These works include the installation of district meters and isolation valves. “Also included in zoning works is the cost of massive meter replacement that will be implemented in order to reduce non revenue water to its target level of twenty percent," CVI said. Calapan City is the provincial capital of Oriental Mindoro and has a 2007 census population of 116,976. The utility firm said it will rehabilitate, expand and improve the waterworks system in Calapan City “to bolster water pressure, improve water quality, and to increase production so as to accommodate more subscribers." 25-year franchise, P137M loan Calapan Water’s congressional franchise under R.A. 9185 runs for 25 years until 2027 while its certificate of public convenience is valid until January 17, 2013. Calapan Water also has the leasehold rights to manage, operate and maintain the water system of Tabuk City until September 30, 2031 where it has no existing competitors. It availed of a P137 million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines. The loan has a repayment period of 15 years. Calapan Water’s nonrevenue water (NRW) in Calapan City was 35.60 percent in 2009 and 33.10 percent in 2010. Its goal is to bring this NRW down to 20 percent by the end of next year by reducing water losses “through water pressure management and replacement of old transmission and distribution lines." Calapan Water said it is “actively monitoring water consumption variances that may indicate metering errors and improper classification of customers." The water utility serves 17 urban barangays and 15 nearby rural barangays in Calapan City. Coverage includes 8,613 of the 25,137 households in Calapan City. It intends to add 1,300 households in two barangays in the “immediate" future. The utility firm is also exploring options with other municipalities who have expressed interest in having their water system developed or operated by Calapan Water. Calapan Water is dependent on underground sources for its water supply and conducts regular water level testing of these sources. The tests showed that “water levels have not changed despite the last El Nino phenomenon." — Earl Victor Rosero, GMA News