Eagle Cement Corp., a fully-integrated cement company led by businessman Ramon Ang, said Monday second-quarter net profit fell 92.5 percent to P128 million from P1.7 billion in the same period last year as the lockdown in Luzon aimed to curb the pandemic affected the overall business.
Eagle Cement said in a disclosure to the stock exchange second-quarter net sales also slid by 73 percent to P1.4 billion.
“These are very difficult times, but we remain confident that the economy will recover from this pandemic and emerge stronger” Eagle president and chief executive Paul Ang said.
“The government’s steady push for the completion of major infrastructure projects and the private sector’s readiness to bounce back offer encouraging signs for our company’s prospects moving forward,” he said.
The cement firm posted a net profit of P1.3 billion in the first half, down 61 percent from a year ago after net sales dropped 44 percent to P5.9 billion.
Eagle Cement said after the weak first-half performance, business was expected to recover once the government eased further the quarantine restrictions especially in Luzon.
Ang said the pandemic had created a highly competitive cement market that could squeeze profits. “More aggressive strategies in pricing and marketing will be undertaken in the remaining half of the year,” he said.
The company said that despite the steep decline in profitability, it continued to enjoy a strong financial position at the end of June which would enable it to withstand any external adversities amid the crisis.
“Our balance sheet remains strong and well-capitalized and the company is well-positioned to take advantage of a rebound in the construction industry. We continue to expand our production capacity despite the pandemic, underscoring our confidence on the economy’s ability to recover once quarantine restrictions are further eased,” said Ang.
Eagle Cement’s Bulacan expansion is currently underway and is slated to be completed by the first quarter of 2021. This will boost its cement production capacity by 1.5 million metric tons to 8.6 MMT a year.
The share price of Eagle Cement closed lower by 2.3 percent to P10 on Monday.