Roxas Holdings incurs P125M loss

FIRST Pacific-led sugar firm Roxas Holdings Inc. (RHI) incurred a net loss of P125 million in the quarter ending December 2015 – the first quarter in its fiscal year, due to operational challenges at two of its operating plants.

This net loss for the quarter was a turnaround from the P9 million net profit in the same period last year, RHI disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

RHI chair Pedro Roxas said that apart from the October to December period being historically a weak season for the sugar business, RHI likewise reeled from the combined impact of insufficient cane supply, late start-up in its Batangas plant and temporary shutdown for needed operational enhancements in its newly acquired plant.

RHI president and chief executive officer Hubert Tubio noted that the combined gross profit of Central Azucarera de la Carlota Inc. (CACI) and Roxol Bioenergy Corp. (RBC) – both in La Carlota City in Negros Oriental — was not sufficient to cover the group’s total expenses for the period.

He also noted that Negros-based ethanol producer San Carlos Bioethanol Inc., which the group acquired in May last year, had to temporarily cease operations to give way for enhancement initiatives to improve plant efficiencies.

However, Tubio expects this as a temporary setback. In the coming quarters, he expects the
group’s performance to improve, resulting in an anticipated increase in core net income in the 2016 crop year versus last year.

“We hope to see an improvement in our full year core net income,” Tubio said.

The RHI group is currently sprucing up its plants and has allocated a capital spending budget of about P1.4 billion for the current crop year to address operational challenges.

The group plans to raise fresh capital from an offering on new shares to existing shareholders. Its board of directors recently approved an offering of stock rights, the final terms and conditions of which have yet to be finalized.

The First Pacific group controls 51 percent of RHI through its subsidiary First Agri Holdings Corp.