Ionics cleans up plastics manufacturing arm

Iomni Precision (screengrab from Ionics Inc. website)

Laguna-based electronics manufacturing holding firm Ionics Inc. has unveiled a plan to clean up the balance sheet of wholly-owned engineered plastic manufacturing unit Iomni Precision Inc.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, Ionics announced its board’s approval of the equity restructuring of Iomni, with the goal of wiping out the latter’s existing deficit.

This is proposed to be achieved through a decrease in Iomni’s authorized capital stock from P200 million to P60 million by reducing its par value per share from P1 to 30 centavos.

The board of Ionics also approved the conversion of its advances in the peso equivalent of $250,000 to additional paid-in capital in Iomni.

“The resulting reduction surplus together with the existing APIC (additional paid-in capital) will then be utilized to wipe out the existing deficit of Iomni,” the disclosure said.

The capital restrucuring is expected to be approved by Ionics’ shareholders in a meeting to be held on June 19.

Iomni was incorporated in 2000 primarily to manufacture and sell high-precision plastic products, parts, and injection molds and related products. Its capability for gas-assisted plastic injection was cited as the first in the country.

As of 2016, Iomni accounted for 5.4 percent of Ionics’ consolidated revenues.

In 2016, Iomni reported a decline in sales to $2.66 million from $2.96 million in 2015. It incurred a net loss of $357,000 in 2016 compared to a net loss of $149,000 in the previous year.

Ionics, through its subsidiaries, is a one-stop shop electronics manufacturing services provider. Most of its end-products are components and sub-assembly which are eventually used as inputs for the finished products of its customers. The Ionics group focuses on telecommunication, automotive, computer, consumer, plastic, and medical products.