Premiere contractor D.M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI) bagged a P958-million contract to build a warehouse complex in Batangas last January 2020 which raised its first semester order book by 152 percent year-on-year from P26.1 billion to P65.8 billion.

Infrastructure projects and share in joint venture contracts accounted for the bulk of the order book at P18.3 billion and P24.9 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, plant and utilities construction jobs reached P13.3 billion while building contracts totaled P7.5 billion. Energy projects contributed the remaining P1.8 billion.

“Most companies are deferring or cancelling their projects scheduled for bidding this year because they want to preserve their cash. They are also waiting for the situation to stabilize before making any major investments,” said DMCI president and CEO Jorge A. Consunji.

“Fortunately, we have a strong order book that’s skewed towards infrastructure. It can sustain us for the next three years,” he added.

Last year, the joint venture of DMCI and Taisei Corporation of Japan was awarded package 1 of the North South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project by the Department of Transportation (DOTr). At the end of June this year, DMCI had a balance of work of P21.3 billion from the railway contract.

Its other major infrastructure projects include the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, Cavite-Laguna Expressway, LRT2 East Extension and NLEX-SLEX Connector Road.

On a stand-alone basis, DMCI recorded a net income of P79 million in the first half, an 83-percent decline from P459 million during the same period last year.

The sharp drop was mainly attributable to lower construction accomplishments as a result of the 76-day lockdown and higher operating costs from the implementation of COVID-19 containment measures in its job sites.