Megawide builds up 2017 earnings 17% to P2.2 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Diversified and infrastructure conglomerate Megawide Corp. grew its net income by 17 percent to P2.2 billion last year as consolidated revenues rose nine percent.

Megawide chairman and CEO Edgar Saavedra attributed the strong growth to the solid performance of its construction and airport businesses.

“2017 has been a positive year for Megawide as we were able to 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,” Saavedra said.

The construction business alone registered P16.7 billion in revenues last year, up six percent largely due to private sector projects.

Construction remains the core revenue contributor, representing 87 percent of consolidated revenues.

Net income from the construction business grew seven percent to P1.1 billion, while new contracts booked from the private sector rose to P10.8 billion.

Order backlog amounted to P32.6 billion at the end of 2017, providing earnings visibility for the next two years.

Revenues from airport operations, meanwhile, grew 23 percent to P2.3 billion last year as a result of the double-digit increase in passenger throughput.

 This, in turn, was propelled by strong international and domestic passenger traffic, which increased by 24 percent and seven percent, respectively.

 The airport operations segment reported  a 24 percent jump in net income to P1.1 billion, accounting for 50 percent of groupwide earnings.

Saavedra said the number of passengers in the Cebu airport increased significantly  since the group took over in 2014.

“The increase in passenger numbers at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (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 percent of the total and international passengers at 31 percent,” Saavdra said.

GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) was able to add 12 international routes including seven destinations to and from Chinese cities, new direct flight to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and additional flights to 23 domestic destinations.

To date, MCIA serves 35 domestic and 22 international destinations.

“As we continue to promote Cebu as a tourist hub and with the opening of MCIA’s Terminal 2, we are confident on the steady growth trajectory of our airport business. We also continue to explore opportunities to expand this segment,” Saavedra said.

The group, together with its Bangalore-based partner GMR, is also bidding for the redevelopment of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the country’s main gateway.