Roxas Holdings turns around with P751-M 9-mo income

MANILA, Philippines - Roxas Holdings Inc. (RHI), the country’s largest sugar producer, posted net earnings of P751 million in the first nine months of its fiscal year, a reversal of the P305-million loss incurred a year earlier.

RHI chairman Pedro E. Roxas attributed the turnaround to higher margins, lower overhead expenses and reduced financing charges.

“We have also made some progress in deleveraging with a P900 million reduction in our debts for the first nine months of operations,” Roxas said.

Consolidated revenues declined 12 percent to P5.8 billion as average sugar prices declined 34 percent to P1,403 per bag. Refined sugar likewise decreased 15 percent to P2,006 per bag.

Depite the lower sugar prices and volume, gross profit margin surged to P1.6 billion from only P591 million.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) reached a record P1.7 billion, up 181 percent from P593 million in 2011.

The company’s ethanol business, through Roxol Bioenergy Corp., also started to contribute significantly to RHI’s coffers, registering revenues of P457 million from a mere P39 million the previous year.

Roxol Bioenergy achieved a positive cash flow of P24 million compared to last year’s negative cash flow of P165 million.

RHI president and chief executive officer Renato C. Valencia said the company’s earnings are expected to slid by the end of its fiscal year due to the regular, major off-season repairs and fixed costs in the next two months in preparation for the coming crop year.

Valencia noted that the company’s energy cost went down 45 percent as plants shifted from bunker to more cost-efficient, eco-friendly and renewable fuel sources.

“RHI also made significant improvements in production, with a two percent increase in consolidated raw output at 2.5 million bags despite a six percent decline in national production,” he said.

Valencia added the company expects to unload all its sugar stocks by the end of the fiscal year next month on the heels of increased sugar consumption.