The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has increased its stake in Megawide Construction Corp. to 9.5% by acquiring 111.94 million common shares through a series of block transactions.
The acquisition has made the state pension fund one of the listed engineering and construction company’s major local institutional investors, with GSIS now holding 191.71 million common shares in Megawide.
Megawide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar B. Saavedra stated that the investment by GSIS reflects a vote of confidence in the company’s vision of engineering a First-World Philippines, particularly through its participation in government-initiated campaigns and public-private partnerships.
Saavedra mentioned that Megawide’s infrastructure pipeline includes the construction of socialized housing units under the government’s expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, as well as transport-centric developments aimed at modernizing and organizing public transport systems.
The company’s financial performance has shown improvement, with a 24% increase in first-quarter net income and lower short-term debt after reducing obligations by about P7 billion.
Megawide plans to expand its horizontal residential developments in Cavite and Bulacan and pursue additional projects under the expanded housing program in other cities and municipalities, as part of its 4-D strategy.
The company has also recently declared cash dividends of P0.145 per share, payable on Aug. 7 to shareholders on record as of July 23, and is targeting a net income of about P1.2 billion this year.
For the January-to-March period, attributable net income rose 24% to P265.35 million from P214.42 million a year earlier, while gross revenue increased 16.4% to P5.04 billion from P4.33 billion.
Shares in Megawide fell seven centavos, or 1.67%, to close at P4.12 each on Wednesday.
