Megawide Construction Corporation reported a turnaround last year with a consolidated net income of P2.8 billion from the P893.2 million loss incurred in 2021 on the back of one-time gains.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said consolidated revenues declined 11.5 percent from P16.29 billion in 2021 to P14.8 billion last year, contributed largely by the construction business and a portion from landport operations.
The 2022 results included exceptional gains from the airport transaction, representing part of the upfronted value from the divestment in GMR MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), and one-off items related to terminated projects in the construction segment that were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for continuing operations, which excludes one-off items, dropped 31 percent to P2.0 billion versus the previous year’s P2.9 billion.
“The COVID-19 pandemic affected Megawide in multiple fronts, particularly in terms of our operations and financial position. Alongside these challenges were opportunities, which we believe will help us address most of these concerns,” said Megawide Chairman and CEO Edgar Saavedra.
He noted that, “Among these developments were newly-awarded projects and the monetization of investment in GMCAC, concessionaire for the award-winning Mactan Cebu International Airport.”
New projects in 2022 included Contract Package-104 (CP-104) of the game-changing Metro Manila Subway System, additional packages for the Suncity Westside City Resorts complex, and supply and build contracts of pre-cast materials for three new locations of PhirstPark Homes’ residential developments.
These brought the Company’s order book to P50.8 billion as of end 2022 and among the biggest in the Company’s history.
“The transaction involving the Company’s airport subsidiary GMCAC proved very timely and provided us more flexibility to pursue our broader growth agenda. Specifically, it enabled us to ease our balance sheet by de-levering a portion of our bank debts and de-risk our assets from forecasted global economic slowdown and the Russian-Ukraine conflict,” Saavedra explained.
As of end-December 2022, the Company’s total interest-bearing loans and borrowings declined to P27.8 billion from P49.5 billion as at end-December 2021, with bank debt-to-equity (D-E) ratio significantly narrowing to 1.4 times from 2.6 times.
“The move also unlocked funds that we believe will accelerate our diversification into more recycle-resilient, scalable, and emerging growth segments and strengthen our stakeholder base, as we explore other ventures and pursue a more focused ESG agenda,” Saavedra added.
The Company recently signed a Shareholders’ Agreement with Singapore-based Evolution Data Centers to design, build and operate a state-of-the-art carrier-neutral data center in the Philippines, facilitating Megawide’s pivot towards digital infrastructure.
Megawide is also fast-tracking the expansion of its transit-centric developments (TCDs) around Luzon to connect to the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange via hub-and-spoke model.
Outside Luzon, Cebu2World Development, Inc. is heavily engaged in its Carbon Market Redevelopment Project, that will further renew the urban landscape in the Philippines’ Queen City of the South.