By Arjay L. Balinbin
Two of the major companies owned by Davao City businessman Dennis A. Uy reported quarterly losses on Friday, which was also marked by his departure as president of a separate holding firm.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. said it had posted a net loss of P941.11 million in the second quarter, swinging from a profit of P186.49 million in the same period last year.
The company attributed the decrease to the community quarantines measures imposed by the government starting around mid-March, which it said “restricted the travel of people via land, sea and air transport and allowed only the delivery of essential goods.”
Chelsea Logistics’ gross revenues declined 49.9% to P959.26 million from P1.91 billion. Gross expenses dropped 17.4% to P1.28 billion from P1.55 billion.
The shipping business declined by 26% to P2.41 billion during the period from the previous year’s P3.27 billion.
In the first quarter, the group posted an attributable net loss of P345.08 million, a reversal of the P138.71-million profit it recorded in the same period last year.
In a statement, Chelsea Logistics said it had already put into place “several measures to stem the losses and improve its financial health.”
“These measures include workforce rationalization, improved vessel utilization, enhanced revenue management, cost cutting strategies, and suspension of uncommitted capital expenditure programs,” it added.
Separately, Mr. Uy’s oil company Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. said in it a statement that it had reduced its net loss to P5 million in the second quarter, which it described as “significantly lower than the P386 million” posted in the first three months.
The company, the leading independent oil firm in the country, did not indicate the details of its second-quarter financial performance in the press release. It said revenues were lower by 30% in the first half because of the sharp year-on-year decline in oil prices.
Phoenix Petroleum President Henry Albert R. Fadullon said “regional and local developments within the industry and credit markets have tightened access to working capital.”
“We saw this hamper our recovery in the second quarter as we had to divert resources to debt service and pull back on inventory replenishment,” he added.
Phoenix Petroleum reported a P215-million net loss in the first quarter, reversing its P415 million net income recorded in the same period in 2019, as overall revenues and volume declined because of the volatility in the oil market.
Meanwhile, DITO CME Holdings Corp. announced on Friday that Mr. Uy has resigned as president of the company.
Ernesto “Eric” A. Alberto, PLDT Inc.’s former chief revenue officer, is the new president, the group said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.
“The change shall foster an appropriate balance of power, increased accountability, and better capacity for independent decision-making,” it added.
Mr. Uy is still the chairman of the board of directors.
DITO CME, formerly ISM Communications Corp. (ISM), currently operates as a holding company.
The board of directors of ISM approved changing its corporate name on Dec. 10, 2019, the same time it approved buying 100% of Mr. Uy’s shell company Udenna Communications Media and Entertainment Holdings Corp.
DITO CME announced recently that it plans to “leverage on advertising solutions for its brand and business partners, not only through the eyeballs from content, but also leveraging assets within the Udenna Group.”
It also plans to “embark on the basic anchor of technology solutions, from cloud computing to mobile applications.”
On Friday, shares in Phoenix Petroleum slipped 0.53% to P11.34, while those of Chelsea Logistics and DITO CME were unchanged at P3.29 and P3.10, respectively.
