Megawide pursues recovery as construction biz helps cut losses

Megawide Construction Corp. expects its airport and land port operations to bounce back as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease.

The company’s aviation business via the Mactan Cebu International Airport was among those badly hit by global and domestic travel restrictions, contributing to financial losses since last year.

Losses in the nine months through September, however, narrowed 87 percent to P80.8 million while total revenues rose 27 percent to P11.5 billion.

The heavy lifting was done by its core construction business, with revenues jumping by 47 percent to P10.6 billion during the period.

Megawide chair and CEO Edgar Saavedra said business prospects would improve as the economy opens up.

“We are seeing the stabilization of our construction business amid the unpredictability of the operating landscape due to the varying responses to the pandemic,” Saavedra said in a statement.

“We are also glad that the restrictions are slowly being eased to facilitate long-term planning and looking forward to an even stronger performance in the coming months, not just for the construction segment but for our other businesses as well,” he added.

Airport revenues during the nine-month period were down 63 percent to P366.24 billion—the drop even larger when compared to 2019’s P2.7 billion.

But on a quarterly basis, airport operations rose 13.2 percent in the third quarter versus the same period in 2020.

Louie Ferrer, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. president and executive director for infrastructure development, said there were positive signs the business could further improve.

Positive signs

“The recent decision of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) to ease interisland mobility and boost tourism, against a backdrop of increasing vaccination and declining infections, is definitely encouraging,” he said, referring to the Inter-Agency Task Force managing the pandemic.

Land port operations, via the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, also contributed revenues of P513.8 million, down nearly 6 percent.

Meanwhile, the construction segment will continue to drive revenues as the company secures new contracts.

Megawide said its venture with Tokyu Construction and Tobishima Construction from Japan submitted the best bid to build a portion of the P357-billion Metro Manila Subway Project, with the award expected before the end of 2021.

Megawide participated in the North South Commuter Rail-South Line Project with Hong Kong-based Chun Wo Construction. It also plans to submit a proposal for the electromechanical and track works package of the Malolos-Clark and Solis-Calamba stretches of the North South Commuter Rail project. INQ