Eagle Cement Corp., one of the largest cement producers in the Philippines, said Wednesday third-quarter net income reached P1.37 billion, matching last year’s profit, in a positive signal that construction activities are starting to pick up.
Eagle Cement said in a disclosure to the stock exchange third-quarter net sales declined by 16 percent to P4.05 billion from P4.8 billion a year ago.
The decline in net sales was less steep than the second-quarter fall of 73 percent. Quarter-on-quarter, net sales grew by 192 percent.
The cement firm said it managed to register positive third-quarter results after the government eased quarantine restrictions in most areas of the country, after several months of lockdown, which allowed construction and major infrastructure projects to resume.
“The resumption of major infrastructure projects and retail segment boosted sales. We are optimistic that fourth-quarter results will be better as more sectors of the economy are reopened,” Eagle Cement president and chief executive Paul Ang said.
Nine-month net income settled at P2.69 billion, down 43 percent from P4.7 billion in the same period last year as net sales dropped 35 percent to P9.96 billion.
Eagle Cement said it would expand its cement capacity by 1.5 million metric tons with the completion of a new mill in Bulacan by the first quarter of 2021.
The new mill will boost the company’s annual cement production to 8.6 million MT. This is expected to support Eagle Cement’s upcoming projects as most construction operations resume by next year.
Eagle Cement’s share price gained P0.060 on Wednesday to close at P16.10.