Holcim’s net profit up by 26% to due to construction boom

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s leading cement maker Holcim Philippines grew its net profit last year by 26 percent to P4.55 billion as revenues hit record-high levels on the back of a fast-growing economy.

“Our company benefited from the good business environment, which has allowed the construction boom to persist and cement demand to thrive. Credit should also go to our people, who did their part in attaining this record performance by focusing on areas within our control such as efficiency and costs,” Holcim Philippines chief executive officer Eduardo Sahagun said.

Revenues grew by 6 percent year-on-year to P28.9 billion, the best turnover seen by the company in history. This was attributed to good price management and steady volumes on the continued growth of cement demand.

The profit growth was also aided by the company’s initiatives to manage costs.

Overall, the government’s heavy investments in infrastructure and the private sector’s commercial, residential and industrial projects perked up the local cement industry by 6 percent last year.

For its part, Holcim’s volume was flat due to maintenance and upgrade activities in the third quarter and the slowdown seen in the fourth quarter in the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan).

In anticipation of the continued growth in demand this 2014, Holcim last year upgraded the capacity of its La Union and Misamis Oriental plants and reactivated its idle grinding facility in Batangas.

As the construction industry posted another double-digit growth, Holcim last year resorted to importing clinker, which cost more than its own production, to meet market demand.

For this year, Sahagun said the industry would likely grow by 5-8 percent. Holcim would like to grow in line or even better than industry levels, Sahagun said.

“We expect 2014 to be again filled with opportunities for our business. We believe that the best way to capture those is by continuing our thrust to develop our people so they can deliver the services that will further raise our customer’s satisfaction and firm up our relationship with them,” he said.