Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. said first-quarter net income declined 47 percent to P89 million from P168.6 million year-on-year mainly due to lower operating earnings mostly as a result of COVID-19 community quarantine measures.
Cemex said in a disclosure Monday to the stock exchange net sales decreased 10 percent during the first quarter of 2020 from P5.6 billion in the comparable period last year.
“These are extraordinary times we live in. Around the world, governments, industries, and people are taking measures to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and CEMEX Holdings Philippines is not an exception,” Cemex president and chief executive Ignacio Mijares said.
“Our focus during these challenging times is on three priorities: first, to protect the health and safety of our employees and their families, customers, suppliers, and communities; second, to support our customers as much as possible in a responsible way; and third, to ensure the long-term business continuity of CHP,” he added.
While domestic volumes rose eight percent during the first two months of the year, they were offset by the effects of the enhanced community quarantine measures in Luzon and other restrictions around the country during the second half of March.
Cement volumes as a result decreased by four percent during the quarter from a year ago.
Cemex’s domestic cement prices dropped six percent in the quarter compared with the same period in the previous year.
The cement company’s total debt stood at P13.48 billion at the end of March, a decrease of around P6.6 billion from December 31, 2019.
Cemex used a portion of the proceeds raised from the recent stock rights offering to pay respective debts owed by Solid Cement Corp. and APO Cement Corp. to CEMEX ASIA, B.V.
The company is building an additional cement line in its facility in Antipolo, Rizal that is capable of producing 1.5 million metric tons annually.
The $235-million expansion is expected to increase the company’s cement capacity by 26 percent. The expansion is scheduled for completion by the end of 2020.
