Megawide losses increase fivefold as expenses spike
Megawide Construction Inc. widened its net losses in the nine-month period ending September as expenses outpaced the growth of its topline figures, which were mainly driven by the airport segment.
The listed company reported that its Jan-Sept net losses grew by more than fivefold to P445.25 million from P80.8 million a year ago. Net losses incurred for the third quarter climbed by 46 percent to P319.58 million.
Direct costs, which were mostly related to construction operations, rose by 3 percent to P9.8 billion while other expenses grew by 56 percent to P1.83 billion.
Consolidated revenues in the first nine months rose by 3 percent to P11.81 billion, which Megawide attributed mainly to the increase of contribution from the airport segment that tripled to P1.12 billion.
“The airport business remains optimistic of a turnaround as vaccination has contained the virus, encouraging global and local air travel,” the company said.
Passenger volume more than doubled to about 3.6 million, for both domestic and international travels, during the period.
Recently, Megawide and GMR Airports International BV — which comprise the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. — inked a P25-billion share subscription and transfer agreement with Aboitiz InfraCapital involving the Mactan Cebu International Airport. By 2024, the Aboitiz-led company will fully take over the Cebu airport.
The construction segment of Megawide’s business saw its revenue slightly dip to P10.32 billion in January-September period from P10.56 billion a year ago as “certain contracts were under renegotiation due to the impact of rising raw material prices and interest rates.”
Its order book includes projects such as Suncity West Side City project, Landers Aseana, Hampton O&P and Malolos Clark Railway Phase 1.
Revenue from landport operations, meanwhile, declined by 46 percent to P276.26 million for the period from last year’s P513.82 million.
Last week, Megawide announced its plan to hike its total authorized capital to P5.12 billion with the issuance of 36 million preferred shares.
Citicore Holdings Investment Inc. will be subscribing to 25 percent or 9 million of the increase in the preferred shares. Megawide will be offering and selling up to 26.22 million shares through public offering or private placement transactions.
The company will be holding a special stockholders’ meeting on Dec. 20 to secure approval for the planned transaction.
