Roxas Holdings income drops 28%

MANILA, Philippines - Listed sugar miller Roxas Holdings Inc. registered a 28 percent drop in  net income for the third quarter of its fiscal year ending June 30 on low cane supply.

RHI reported a third quarter net income of P329 million from P455 million in the same period last year.

Company chairman Pedro E. Roxas said they have put in place measures to address the low cane supply situation, particularly in its Central Azucarera de la Carlota plant in Negros Occidental.

“We hope to stabilize the cane supply situation across all our operations in Negros Occidental and Batangas through the programs we have started to roll out,” he said.

RHI president and CEO Renato C. Valencia said the low cane supply also affected the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), which dropped 10 percent to P1.16 billion from P1.28 billion during the comparative period last year.

“Most of our subsidiaries performed positively in the third quarter and we are looking at further improving results by the fourth quarter,” Valencia said.

RHI declared cash dividends of P0.12 per share for stockholders on record as of Sept. 4 with payment date on Sept. 25.

The company maintains a minimum 35 percent regular dividend distributed semi-annually.

In May, RHI acquired majority of San Carlos Bioenergy Corp. in Negros Occidental, in addition to its Roxol Bioenergy Corp. also in the same province —making making it one of the largest ethanol players in the Philippines.

RHI is a leading Philippine sugar refiner and manufacturer with its Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc. in Batangas; and Central Azucarera de la Carlota Inc. and Hawaiian-Philippine Co., Inc. in Negros Occidental.

The prevailing dry spell severely affected major sugarcane-producing region, prompting the Sugar Regulatory Administrator to adjust domestic production targets several times and eventually stop exports during the closing crop year to protect domestic supply and prices.