RHI sees turnaround by next year

MANILA, Philippines — Sugar and bio-energy firm Roxas Holdings Inc. hopes to return to profitability next year as it expands the capacity of its Batangas refinery.

At the company’s virtual annual stockholders meeting, RHI president and CEO Celso Dimarucut said the company is focused on restoring its ability to maximize the refinery capacity of Central Azucarera Don Pedro in Batangas in order to restore its profitability.

“RHI has initiated and started works to accomplish this objective and expects to finish these works in this calendar year, in time for the start of next year’s crop season,” Dimarucut said.

The sugar crop year starts every September and ends in August.

Dimarucut said the company is targeting a complete turnaround in fiscal year 2022.

RHI reported a net loss of P240 million in the first quarter of the current crop year, significantly higher than the P36 million loss recorded a year ago after taking into consideration the P247 million non-recurring gain from the sale of an investment last year.

The company recently re-organized its operations following the completion of the sale of its assets in La Carlota City in September 2020.

RHI chairman Pedro Roxas earlier said the first quarter of operations for the remaining businesses of the company showed losses as there were very limited transactions during the period given the seasonal nature of the business.

“We started the distillery operations of our San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. (SCBI) in October 2020, while milling in Central Azucarera Don Pedro Inc. began in mid-December 2020, after completing the off-season repairs and maintenance activities of these plants,” Roxas said.

RHI is the largest integrated sugar business in the Philippines which manages 100 percent of Central Azucarera Don Pedro in Batangas and Central Azucarera de la Carlota.