Megawide Construction Corp. posted a net income of P1.37 billion in 2018, down 23 percent from P1.78 billion in 2017, on lower revenues from the construction business.
Megawide said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues dropped 21 percent to P15.1 billion from P19.1 billion a year ago as construction revenues, which accounted for 78 percent total revenues, fell 29 percent to P11.8 billion.
The drop in construction revenues was primarily due to timing of project completion.
The company, however, remains optimistic about the construction business after securing P29.5 billion worth of projects in 2018.
The order backlog amounted to P50.9 billion at the end of 2018, the highest level by far in Megawide’s history.
“We remain highly optimistic in our construction business, especially with such a robust order book which gives us visibility for the next two to three years,” said Megawide chairman and chief executive Edgar Saavedra.
Revenues from airport operations, meanwhile, rose 30 percent to P2.99 billion from P2.29 billion in 2017 on the 15-percent growth in passenger volume.
Megawide reported that Mactan-Cebu International Airport registered a 15-percent growth in total passenger volume to 11.5 million from 10 million passengers in 2017, with international and domestic passengers rising 23 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Domestic passengers comprised 67 percent of the total mix while international accounted for 33 percent.
Air traffic volume likewise increased 15 percent with international traffic rising 19 percent and domestic traffic improving 14 percent.
The overall improvement in passenger and air traffic was attributed to additional airline partners and the increased number of domestic and international flights.
MCIA in 2018 opened 12 new international routes, eight of those to China, and two new domestic routes to Ormoc and Catbalogan via AirJuan.
The MCIA is serving 30 domestic and 20 international destinations with six local and 19 international airline partners as of February this year.
“We continue to see the growth in both international and local travel as an opportunity to promote Cebu not only as a destination but as a hub to other destinations in Visayas and Mindanao. We intend to make the most of these prospects by embarking on new developments within the MCIA concession area to attract more traffic and complement our existing facilities,” Saavedra said.