Solid airport revenues boost Megawide’s 2017 profit

DIVERSIFIED engineering and infrastructure company Megawide Construction Corp. saw its attributable profit jump by 14% in 2017, driven by the strong performance of its construction and airport operations.
In a regulatory filing, Megawide said its net income attributable to the parent rose to P1.78 billion last year from P1.56 billion in 2016.
Attributable profit is the company’s net income minus non-controlling interests.
“2017 has been a positive year for Megawide as we were able exceed our guidance buoyed by the strong last quarter performance of our construction business and the outperformance of our airport segment highlighted by a double digit growth in revenues,” Megawide Chairman and CEO Edgar B. Saavedra was quoted as saying in a statement.
Consolidated revenues increased by 9% to P19.2 billion in 2017. Around 87% of the revenues came from the construction business, while the airport business accounted for 12% and the rest to airport merchandising.
Megawide said construction revenues grew 6% to P16.7 billion, as new contracts from private sector reached P10.8 billion as of end-2017. The company’s total order book stood at P32.6 billion in 2017.
“With our optimistic outlook on the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals coupled with the government’s roll-out of its infrastructure plans through its Build, Build, Build program, we remain bullish on the continued expansion of our construction business,” Mr. Saavedra said.
Operations of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), which Megawide operates with its partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd., brought in P2.3 billion in revenues, 23% up from the previous year’s P1.9 billion.
Megawide said MCIA saw 12% increase in passenger throughput, with international passenger volume growth of 24% exceeding the 7% domestic passenger volume growth. This was attributed to the increase in airlines operating at the airport, as well as introduction of new international and domestic routes.
“The increase in passenger numbers at MCIA is substantial. When we took over operations in 2014, MCIA was handling about 6.5 million passengers. In 2017, we had a total of 9.97 million passengers with domestic passengers representing 69% of the total and international passengers at 31%,” Mr. Saavedra said.
MCIA’s second passenger terminal, which will increase total capacity to 12.5 million passengers per year, is expected to open by June.
Shares in Megawide added 20 centavos or 0.93% to close at P21.65 each on Wednesday.