Megawide profit down 1.5%

Construction and engineering firm Megawide Corp. posted a first quarter net profit of P323.75 million attributable to parent equity holders—1.5 percent lower year-on-year.

Including minority interest, net profit increased by 13 percent year-on-year to P370 million, buoyed by the airport operation business, which helped boost the company’s consolidated gross profit by 48 percent to P702 million over the same period.

Based on a regulatory filing, the group recorded consolidated revenues of P2.7 billion—4 percent lower compared to the first three months of last year. Megawide said this was a result of lower construction revenues posted during the first quarter of 2015 as more projects reached the startup stage compared to the number seen the previous year.

But the company said project accomplishments should be expected by the third quarter of the year. These projects are: 8990 Tower of Foghorn Inc., Tower One Plaza Magellan of Megaworld Corp.; Philam Life Cebu of Philam Life Center Cebu; The Rise of The Rise Mixed Development Inc.; Mareic Building of Greenway Property Realty Corp.; and Southwood Mall and Office Towers of Southwoods Mall Inc.

Also, Megawide said it was able to book an additional P13.5 billion from new contracts in the first quarter, which caused its order book to rise to P28.3 billion as of the end of the first quarter.

Megawide also expects to start the construction of its public-private partnership projects in 2015: The new Philippine Orthophedic Hospital, new passenger terminal in Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and Southwest Intermodal Transit System in Parañaque City.

Meanwhile, airport operation revenues jumped to P349 million due to the rise in passenger traffic since the company took over operations of Mactan-Cebu Airport last November.

On the other hand, finance income increased by 320 percent, or by P27 million, due to interest income on various short-term placements. Finance costs also increased by 40 percent, or P38 million, due to interest expense incurred by GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp.—the unit handling the Cebu airport project—on its short-term bridge loan.

Other income increased by 36 percent, or P3 million, due to share on net income of the parent company on its equity with Citicore-Megawide Consortium Inc.—the special purpose vehicle used for the school infrastructure project under the Department of Education.