By James A. Loyola

Engineering and infrastructure conglomerate Megawide Construction Corporation delivered a consolidated net profit growth of 10 percent for the first half of 2018 to P1.26 billion from P1.15 billion in the same period last year.

The firm said the increase was driven by the continued robust growth of its airport business segment, which contributed 65 percent to consolidated net earnings. The construction business segment accounted for the remaining 35 percent.

“We remain optimistic about the Company’s continued strong performance in 2018,” said Megawide Chairman Edgar Saavedra.

He added that, “our growth prospects continue to be promising with the addition of more routes at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the numerous opportunities in the construction segment.”

Saavedra said “we are also continuing to boost our order book levels to ensure a more stable revenue pipeline in the next three years, at least.”

Consolidated revenues reached P8.96 billion, of which the construction business contributed 82 percent and the airport business accounted for the balance of 18 percent.

Airport operations posted a 14 percent growth in revenues to P1.32 billion, attributed to the 12 percent increase in passenger volume. International passengers grew 17 percent, which outperformed domestic passenger growth of 10 percent.

Contributions from the new airport merchandising segment are also expected to grow with the increase in foreign tourists. At the end of the second quarter, airport merchandising revenue amounted to P273.2 million while operating exclusively inside Terminal 2.

However, with the expansion of its operations to Terminal 1 in the near future, the segment’s contribution is expected to become more significant moving forward.

Meanwhile, first half revenues for the construction business came in at P7.4 billion, due to timing differences, as various projects were in the finishing stages while new projects booked towards the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018 await the start of construction.

Megawide’s construction business bagged new contracts amounting to P14.2 billion in the first six months of the year. This already represents 59 percent of the Company’s full year guidance for new 2018 contracts, and surpasses new contracts booked for the full year of 2017 by 31 percent.

Saavedra added that the Company is also gearing up to enhance its construction portfolio through projects in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

“As a Quadruple A contractor, we are poised to participate in the administration’s infrastructure development program, either as a straightforward EPC contractor or as a fully-integrated bidder with EPC and O&M capabilities,” he said.