Megawide posts 10% decline in bottom line

Construction, engineering and infrastructure group Megawide Construction Corp. saw a 10-percent year-on-year drop in first quarter net profit to P439.98 million on lower construction revenue traced to the “cyclical” factors.

Including earnings attributable to minority interest, Megawide’s net profit for the first three months amounted to P549 million, down by 4 percent year-on-year.

Revenue from Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and airport merchandising operations respectively rose by 32 percent and 100 percent to P569.74 million and P8.85 million. The Mactan-Cebu project now accounts for 12 percent of the group’s revenue.

The increase in revenue from the airport business was due to the 16-percent rise in passenger traffic in the Cebu airport. International and domestic traffic rose by 42 percent and 5 percent, respectively, compared with year-ago levels.

Megawide president Edgar Saavedra said: “The increase in passenger traffic is brought about by new international flights and local routes mounted in 2016. It is also the direct result of the airport segment’s strategy to project MCIA as a gateway to the country’s top tourist destinations and the main hub for Visayas and Mindanao.”

Saavedra noted the expected cyclicality of the construction segment, which had brought about the year-on-year decline in profit in the first quarter.

“It is a function of the order book and projects in varying stages of construction. This cyclicality is simply part of the industry,”he said. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA