Megawide Construction income jumps in Q3 as construction contracts increase

MEGAWIDE CONSTRUCTION Corp.’s attributable profit jumped by 41% in the third quarter, following increased construction contracts alongside higher passenger volume in its Cebu airport operations.

In a regulatory filing, the engineering conglomerate reported net income attributable to the parent stood at P455.75 million in the July to September period, higher than the P322.47 million in the third quarter of 2016.

Revenues for the period grew by a third to P4.76 billion, the bulk of which came from construction contracts.

This brought Megawide’s nine- month attributable profit to P1.38 billion, up 6% year on year, on the back of a 4% increase in revenues to P14.26 billion.

With this, Megawide said its bottom line is expected to reach over P2 billion for the full year. In 2016, Megawide’s consolidated profit stood at P1.92 billion.

“The company remains to deliver strong earnings performance and is poised to achieve the 2017 full-year guidance of P2.16 billion,” Megawide said.

Construction revenues account for bulk of the company’s revenues at 87% or P12.44 billion, which the company attributed to the progress it has achieved with ongoing projects. This includes Rockwell Land Corp.’s Edades Suites, Fort Bonifacio Development Corp.’s BGC 5th Avenue apartments, and several projects under Zenith Foods Corp., among others.

Megawide also noted it has signed its biggest single project during the period — mass housing developer 8990 Holdings, Inc.’s Urban Deca Homes Ortigas. The project has a value of P14 billion.

“New contracts contributed to the revenue growth for the year and will provide revenue support in the next two years,” Megawide said.

For its airport segment, Megawide said operations of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport’s ( MCIA) earnings contributions went up 7% to P811.16 million for the third quarter.

Megawide attributed the growth of its airport business to the introduction of new airlines and routes both locally and internationally, consisting of 22 international and domestic airlines servicing 33 domestic and 16 international destinations. This in turn produced a doubledigit increase in passenger volumes.

The company looks to attract more airlines into MCIA by inviting tour operators in China this November to promote tourism in Cebu.

Passenger volume is further expected to grow as it finishes construction of the MCIA’s new passenger terminal by June 2018. The expansion is slated to bring the airport’s total capacity to 12.5 million.

Shares in Megawide were up 0.75% or 14 centavos to P18.80 apiece at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. —