Maharlika Investment Corp. Projects P3.3 Billion Net Income as Dividends Flow In

THE MAHARLIKA Investment Corp. (MIC) said it is projecting core net income of P3.3 billion this year as dividends start coming in from its key investments. “Our projected dividends coming from our investees have come to fruition, also the interest income that we’re generating from our investments. I think one of the things that you will find this year that you will not find in previous years is you will now see equitized earnings coming from an investing company,” MIC Vice-President for Finance Marvin M. Martija said at a roundtable last week. He said the corporation can now equitize from Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) and Synergy Grid & Development Phils., Inc. (SGP), adding that SGP has been a main driver in its interest income growth due to its compounding net income growth. So far, the MIC has made a 32% return from its financing deal with Makilala Mining Co., Inc. (MMCI). It also received a dividend payment last week from ATI worth P367 million, Mr. Martija said. “If we apply the same multiple to the results that they just recently assigned and we extend that multiple, we would have made about 24%. So in other words, the strategy is working. But it’ll take time for that to bear fruit and for that to have impact.” MIC booked a net income of P1.24 billion at the end of June, Mr. Martija told reporters via text message. The sovereign wealth fund is also planning to deploy P35 billion from its capital by the end of this year as it looks to conserve its current base which stands at P75 billion. “If you compare us with all the other sovereign wealth funds in the world, we’re a babe in the woods, so to speak, so we’re very small. Therefore, what we aim for are targeted interventions,” Mr. Martija said. The fund also expects total assets to hit P79 billion by the end of the year. It has yet to receive the P50-billion mandated capital injection from Government Financial Institutions. — Aaron Michael C. Sy