Cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines Inc. said over the weekend net income reached P942 million in 2022, down 63 percent from P2.56 billion it earned in 2021 amid weak demand and rising costs.
Holcim Philippines said in a disclosure to the stock exchange total sales reached P26.6 billion in 2022, slightly down from P26.9 billion a year ago.
The company said it implemented a series of price increases in 2022 to partly cover the increase in costs because of higher coal, power and fuel prices.
“Despite the increase in selling prices and the aggressive cost reductions in general, administrative and selling expenses, these have not contributed to the overall profitability of the group due to the increasing energy prices and raw materials purchases,” the company said.
The company said fuel and energy costs ballooned by 60 percent from the previous year’s level and accounted for 64 percent of production expenses.
Holcim Philippines president and chief executive Horia Adrian said the company managed to deliver positive financial performance in the second half despite the many challenges.
“Alongside a strong sales rebound in the second half and expansion of our customer base, we accelerated decarbonization of operations driven by higher usage of alternative fuels and raw materials and production of blended cements. These achievements were key to our resilient results and long-term success anchored on our transformation into the leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions in the Philippines,” Adrian said.
The cement firm said it gained momentum in the second half, with revenues increasing 16 percent from the first half and 9 percent year-on-year as sales steadily grew in the third and fourth quarters.
The company the sustainability projects it implemented helped cushion the impact of rising fuel costs and resulted in production savings.
It said the reduction of carbon emissions per ton of cement by 7 percent from 2021 was in line with its decarbonization drive which also delivered savings of around P1.4 billion in production costs.
It said the strategy to convert around a million tons of qualified wastes into alternative fuels and raw materials for cement production helped soften the impact of the surge in fuel and energy costs.