RHI net income up 133%

First Pacific-led sugar firm Roxas Holdings Inc. (RHI) reported a 133-percent increase in its consolidated net income after tax in the first nine months of its current fiscal year, ending in September, compared to year-ago level.

This, according to the company, was driven by the strong performance of its sugar business unit despite challenging market conditions.

RHI’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) jumped 22 percent to P1.21 billion.

RHI’s ethanol production slowed down because of needed repairs, but according to company chair Pedro Roxas, this was compensated by gains from the sugar business. The group milled 3.461 million metric tons of cane (TCM) for the period, a 21 percent increase from last year’s 2.748 million TCM.

It also produced 6.497 million 50-kg bags of sugar, surpassing the production of 5.102 million LKg for the same period last year. This improvement in output was partly negated by the softening of sugar prices, a company disclosure showed.

CEO and executive vice president for finance Celso Dimarucut said RHI was hoping to inch closer to an Ebitda of P1.6 billion in the last few months of the year to achieve the company’s target for the full year.