By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. is looking to expand its operation of land transportation terminals to the countryside with a few invitations from provincial governments, its top executive said.

Megawide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar B. Saavedra told BusinessWorld last week the company is eyeing to build more terminals in the areas of Cavite, Clark and Cebu.

He said the company’s terminal business would not be limited to Metro Manila. He was referring to the intermodal transport terminal Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, or PITX, which Megawide opened in 2018.

“It can be Cavite, it can be Clark, it can be Cebu,” he said.

“[In] a lot of the cities right now in the Philippines, wala namang (there’s no proper) transport system. Nung makita nila, dapat pala may ganyan, may connectivity (When they saw what we did in PITX, they thought it was good to have connectivity). So we have several LGUs (local government units) who are approaching us and asking us to submit a proposal for them to help solve their problem,” Mr. Saavedra added.

Terminal operations accounted for about 1.5% or P207 million of Megawide’s P13.69 billion total revenues as of September last year. PITX saw foot traffic at an average of 51,000 passengers daily during the nine-month period.

In 2020, the terminal business is expected to lift the company’s revenues, hence Megawide’s bullishness to keep investing in it, Mr. Saavedra said.

“Significant yung business eh. Yung bottomline niya significant siya in terms of the overall company earnings… I would say 30% siya. From nothing, dagdag siya ganun. And it’s recurring (The business is significant. Its bottomline is significant in terms of overall company earnings… I would say it’s around 30%. From nothing, it’s a jump to that. And it’s recurring),” he said.

PITX is slated for expansion for its second phase by the end of the year, which would take around three years before completion.

Aside from terminal operations, Megawide derived its revenues in the nine months to September last year from construction projects, airport operations and airport merchandising at P10.53 billion, P2.71 billion and P247.54 million, respectively.

However, the company’s attributable earnings during the period fell 51% to P649.72 million because of higher financing costs.

Shares in Megawide on Monday were flat at P14.60 each.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR