Cemex Holdings’ 9-month profit seen at P1.88B

Newly-listed cement-maker Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. (CHP) posted a pro-forma net profit of P1.88 billion in the first nine months while cement sales volume grew modestly.

CHP was incorporated in September last year for purposes of the initial equity offering (IPO) that was concluded in July this year. For accounting purposes, the group-wide reorganization which entailed its acquisition of consolidated subsidiaries had taken effect on January 2, 2016. As a result, CHP has no historical consolidated financial information for the comparative nine-month period or quarter ended September last year.

The company thus said it had prepared pro-forma consolidated income statement information so could present operating performance on a like-to-like basis under an assumed normalization of operations.

Pro-forma net sales for the nine-month period rose by 7 percent year-on-year to P19.81 billion.  Operating cash flow rose by 14 percent year-on-year to P5.31 billion for the nine-month period.

For the third quarter, pro-forma net profit was reported at P983.2 million.  Operating cash flow for the quarter rose 9 percent year-on-year to P1.97 billion.

“Domestic gray cement volumes during the third quarter of 2016 increased by 3 percent versus third quarter 2015 reflecting lower public infrastructure activity compared to previous quarters, effects of adverse weather conditions, and increased cement imports into the country,” CHP said.

In the third quarter, CHP said it saw an improvement in pro forma cost of sales as a percentage of net sales, mainly driven by lower energy costs.

For the first nine months of 2016, cement sales volumes grew by 4 percent versus the same period in 2015.

Domestic gray cement prices grew by 1 percent in the third quarter and 2 percent year-on-year in the first nine months.

CHP said infrastructure spending in July had grown at the slowest in the last 16 months, with capital outlays in the first month of the new administration inching up by only 0.8 percent year-on-year versus the 31 percent in June.