Megawide Construction Corporation reported a net attributable loss of P398 million for the first half of 2020—the first in the company’s history.

In a disclosure, the firm said the loss is due to interest expenses and non-cash charges amounting to a combined P1.12 billion “associated largely with the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) concession.”

Megawide’s consolidated revenues during the period was 21 percent lower from the previous year at P6.44 billion, with construction contributing P4.88 billion, airport operations accounting for P888 million, and airport merchandising chipping in P69 million.

Its landport, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), delivered revenues of P599 million and a net income of P255 million for the first six months of the year.

The newest segment of Megawide’s three-legged business portfolio also contributed 40 percent to the Group’s consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during the period, from practically nil in the same period last year.

“When we inaugurated PITX two years ago, we were very excited about its social impact and business prospects. Barely one year of full-blown terminal and commercial operations, we are starting to reap the benefits of this undertaking – not just for the Company but more importantly for our commuting public,” Megawide Chairman and CEO Edgar Saavedra, said.

The landport’s performance cushioned the weakness in Megawide’s traditional growth engines – the construction business, which was mostly inactive during the quarantine season, and airport operations, which suffered from international and local travel bans.

The construction business maintained a healthy order book of P48 billion despite the absence of new contracts due to the slowdown in property development and project launches from real estate players.

The Company, however, is close to securing new contracts in the second half of the year, worth at least approximately P10 billion, to beef up its order book.

Airport operations recorded lower passenger volumes of 742,000 and 1.7 million in the first half of 2020, compared with 2.1 million and 4.3 million for the international and domestic segments, respectively, which naturally affected all revenue segments.

“The situation we are in is unprecedented but we remain in high spirits for the Company’s prospects moving forward. This is the reason why we are building our runway for the future, which we envision to propel us to even greater heights in the years to come,” commented Saavedra.