Holcim’s 2017 net income plunges 65.2%
Holcim Philippines, Inc. reported a 65.2% drop in net income last year to P2.4 billion from P6.9 billion a year earlier after a sluggish construction sector and tight competition weighed down the company’s performance, it told the stock exchange on Friday, March 2.
“The construction growth slowdown, tighter competition and increased input costs affected our financial performance in 2017. But we reacted swiftly to mitigate these challenges,” said Sapna Sood, Holcim Philippines president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
“We launched projects to strengthen customer focus, improve the efficiency of plant and logistics operations, manage costs, and offer more innovative building solutions. We expect these to improve our business performance and allow Holcim Philippines to have an even more positive impact on the country’s development,” he added.
The company said prices had been hit as competition further tightened with the influx of imported cement, causing revenues to decline by 13.9% to P34.7 billion in 2017.
Holcim said with the lower revenues and higher production expenses largely caused by increased fuel prices, consolidated operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell by 49.6% to P5.4 billion.
On Friday, shares in Holcim Philippines fell 1.39% to P9.90 each. — Victor V. Saulon
