Megawide to spend up to P2B for precast expansion

Listed engineering and infrastructure firm Megawide Construction Corp. is looking to spend up to P2 billion to expand its precast construction facilities, betting on sustained demand as a large number of Filipinos remain without homes.

According to Megawide president and chief executive officer Edgar Saavedra, the company is looking to expand its precast unit by putting up another facility, subject to approval, which will take an approximate 1.5 years.

“Nag-fo-four times sa capacity namin eh, so nakikita ko na na mag-e-expand kami by year end. (We are hitting four times capacity, so I see us expanding by the year end.) If we’re gonna put a new one, mostly like south area - Cavite,” he told reporters in an interview.

He said the company has eyeing to meet the demand for housing projects in the northern and southern areas of Metro Manila.

“Geographically kasi nasa east na kami, Taytay. Maganda dapat sa south tsaka isa sa north para ma-cover mo ‘yung Metro Manila at tsaka the Greater Manila,” he added.

(Geographically, we’re already in the east, in Taytay. Ideally, we should have one in the south and another in the north so we can cover Metro Manila as well as the Greater Manila area.)

Saavedra said the expansion is based on market studies that a lot of Filipinos have yet to own their own homes. The company may go to the capital market for funding, but the specifics have yet to be decided on.

“If you look at the market, the real market, ‘yung mga mahirap, hindi ‘yung mga high-end na mga condominium, totoo marami pang walang bahay na mga Pinoy,” he said, noting that this will be addressed by the precast unit.

(If you look at the market—the real market, the poor segment, not the high-end condominiums—the truth is there are still many Filipinos without homes.)

“If you look at our construction method, hindi kami parang typical ‘yung brick and mortar, ‘yung hollow blocks. Ang bagal non. ‘Yung ginagawa ng developers sa amin, fina-factory namin lahat ‘yan kaya ang bilis,” he added.

(If you look at our construction method, we’re not like the typical brick-and-mortar approach using hollow blocks. That’s very slow. What developers do with us is we manufacture everything in the factory, which is why it’s much faster.)

Megawide’s subsidiaries include PH1 World Developers Inc., Megawide Land Inc., Megawide Construction (BVI) Corp., Megawide Cold Logistics Inc., MWM Terminals Inc., Megawide Terminals Inc., and Megawide International Limited, among others.—MCG, GMA Integrated News