DM Consunji Inc., the construction arm of DMCI Holdings Inc., on Tuesday said it is allotting some P2 billion in capital expenditures for the next two years to support its railway construction activities under the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.
DMCI President Jorge Consunji said the bulk of the amount will be used to acquire construction equipment.
The company, which has bagged some of the government-led infrastructure projects, will employ up to 5,000 direct and indirect workers within the next 30 months to meet the manpower requirements of the project.
“Building mass transport systems and high-impact infrastructure is part of our DNA. We are very excited and grateful to be part of this game-changing project for our country,” Consunji said.
The Department of Transportation recently awarded the NSCR Phase 1 contract to the joint venture of DMCI and Taisei Corp. of Japan.
The project has a total contract value of ¥114 billion, or approximately P54 billion based on the prevailing exchange rate.
It involves the construction of around 22 kilometers of elevated viaduct structures, six stations and a depot, which will be located in Valenzuela.
Designed to be completed in 42 months, NSCR Phase 1 will use the existing alignment of the Philippine National Railway, which runs from Malolos, Bulacan, to Tutuban in Manila. The trains will have a maximum operating speed of 120 kilometers per hour.
Once completed, the railway will shorten travel time between Malolos and Tutuban from one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes. This rail line is expected to serve 300,000 passengers daily.
NSCR Phase 1 is the fifth railway project of DMCI. The company was also involved in the construction of LRT Line 1 North Extension, LRT Line 2 East Extension, two PNR projects and the Dubai Monorail in the United Arab Emirates.
Taisei Corp., meanwhile, is the contractor behind the Iloilo International Airport, which was named the 12th-best airport in Asia in 2017 by travel web site “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.”
DMCI said on Monday its net income for the first quarter of the year grew 12 percent to P374 million on account of higher revenues from infrastructure projects.
Revenues surged 74 percent to over P1.5 billion for the first three months of the year, from last year’s P883 million.
The company recorded a 36-percent drop in revenues from building contracts, slipping to P1.1 billion from P1.7 billion last year, as most of the projects near completion.
Revenues from energy projects tripled to P602 million, while revenues from plant and utilities projects improved 29 percent to P404 million.
Accounting for P540 million in revenues are the ready-mix business and other project-support activities of DMCI, which more than doubled from last year.
On a stand-alone basis, DMCI’s first-quarter revenues reached P4.2 billion, a 24-percent increase from last year.