Manila Water Chief Financial Officer Luis Juan B. Oreta told reporters the company was planning to borrow locally to fund a higher capex for the year.

“We need to raise around P10 billion and we plan to raise funding locally. Our capex for the year will include funding for projects including looking for new water sources,� said Mr. Oreta in an interview at the sidelines of the inauguration of a new sewage treatment plant.

He said the company wanted to focus on finding new sources of water while bringing down its nonrevenue water levels further.

Gerardo C. Ablaza, Jr., Manila Water chief executive, said the company’s capex for 2011 would be “significantly higher� than its 2010 capex of P10 billion.

Messrs. Ablaza and Oreta however would not disclose how much the capital expenditures would be for the year.

The concessionaire also inaugurated its $4.69-million sewage treatment plant in Marikina yesterday.

The Olandes sewage treatment will provide wastewater services to 40,000 residents and can treat 10 million liters of water a day. Part of the financing for the facility was provided by the World Bank.

Mr. Oreta said Manila Water was planning to build 21 sewage water treatment plants until 2018. “A lot of our projects will be sewage treatment plants. There will be one plant in the northern part of Marikina and that’s 100 million liters per day. It will be finished by 2012,� he said.

In the nine-month period that ended September last year, Manila Water’s net income rose by 31% to P2.9 billion from P2.3 billion.

Revenues grew by 19% to P8.3 billion in the nine-month period from P7.04 billion as a result of stronger sales.

Shares in the publicly listed Manila Water stayed at P18.20 yesterday. — Emilia Narni J. David