Construction firm ICA posts bigger second-quarter loss

Mexican construction firm ICA reported on Thursday a much wider loss in the second quarter compared with the year-earlier period, as revenue was nearly halved and financial costs rose.

The company, which has not posted a profit since 2013 and has defaulted on multimillion-dollar debt payments, lost 3.36 billion pesos (US$184 million) in the April-June period, compared with a loss of 567 million pesos in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter was 5.28 billion pesos, 42 percent below the 9.05 billion pesos in the second quarter of 2015, as projects abroad wound down.

ICA, which has struggled under a high dollar-denominated debt load and a dwindling stream of projects, said its consolidated debt burden at the end of the quarter was 64.6 billion pesos, down 4.53 percent from Dec. 31, 2015.

The company said its cash liquidity was 6.95 billion pesos as of June 30, down 16 percent from the second quarter last year.

Reuters reported in April that the company planned to file a pre-packaged bankruptcy for some of its units, exit its international business and sell its homebuilding operations as it seeks to restructure.

Mexican financier David Martinez gave the company breathing room in June with a US$215 million credit from his investment firm Fintech, allowing ICA to finance new contracts while negotiating with creditors to restructure debt.

ICA could get more good news early next month as Mexico's government awards contracts to build two of the runways for Mexico City's newUS$13 billion airport project. It is bidding with Portugal's Mota Engil.

ICA shares were up 8.92 percent on Thursday before the company reported.