Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. has raised about P4.5 billion after completing the sale of a nine-percent stake in Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC), with the proceeds earmarked for debt reduction and expansion.
The listed engineering and infrastructure firm on Friday said it completed the transaction on June 26 through several tranches involving the sale of 1.004 billion CREC shares.
Megawide did not disclose the buyer although reports said the transaction marked the completion of a series of purchases by the Government Service Insurance System and the company’s exit from Citicore.
“The transaction is consistent with our intent to value-realize our stake in CREC, at the same time welcoming a suitable and strong partner for CREC,” Chairman and CEO Edgar Saavedra said in a statement.
He said the proceeds would be used to fund the company’s precast expansion and reduce debt to strengthen its balance sheet and improve liquidity.
The transaction was also said to form part of Megawide’s ongoing deleveraging program.
“On the balance sheet side, we have programmed to further reduce our short-term debt to a comfortable level, thus enhancing our liquidity position and also generating savings on interest expenses in the process,” Saavedra said.
Megawide said it had already reduced its debt by P6 billion, bringing its short-term borrowings to P12 billion as of end-March 2026.
The company expects short-term debt to decline further to around P10 billion by end-June, a move projected to generate annual interest expense savings of about P250 million to P300 million.
Shares of Megawide rose by nine centavos, or 2.25 percent, to close at P4.09 each on Friday, outpacing the benchmark Philippine Stock Market index’s 1.02-percent gain.