PH firm says photocopying machines still rule

U-bix Corp., a group which sells office copier machines among other products, targets at most a 15-percent growth in sales this year after reaching over P2 billion in 2018.

Leah Barcas, U-bix executive vice president and chief finance officer, said this in a press briefing on Thursday as part of the company’s 45 years in the business.

Sales of parent company U-bix alone grew 11 percent last year to around P1.2 billion, banking mainly on sales of copier machines despite a global push to go paperless.

The other strong growth driver for last year’s sales was subsidiary Facilities Managers, Inc., which offers management services such as facility maintenance and janitorial and housekeeping services.

Facilities Managers booked a 29-percent increase in sales last year to P1.09 billion, said managing director Demosthenes Doplayana.

U-Bix director May Ann Bravo-Civil said the company had soldiered on for the past two decades by looking after the products and services that were usually taken for granted in both government and commercial offices.

“We might take file management for granted. We might take photocopying for granted. But like so many things that hum along in the background, these are the things we notice when they are not working,” said Bravo-Civil, who is also the daughter of company founder Edilberto Bravo.