MANILA, Philippines – Ang family-led cement manufacturer Eagle Cement Corp. grew net profit last year by 13 percent to P4.8 billion, driven by a double-digit expansion in sales volume.
For the fourth quarter alone, Eagle’s net income surged by 36 percent year-on-year to P1.3 billion as sales rose by 19 percent to a quarterly record high of P4.3 billion.
Eagle generated net sales of P16.5 billion for the full year, marking an 11-percent growth, due to the double-digit sales volume growth.
“While we are faced with challenges in the industry, we remain steadfast to expand the company to meet the increasing local demand for cement, driven by the thriving property sector, growth in consumption, as well as the anticipated roll out of government’s infrastructure projects,” Eagle president and chief executive officer Paul Ang said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“We expect the momentum to continue, as Eagle sets the stage for the next cycle of growth for the company. We seek to continue to invest in expanding our market reach to become a nationwide player,” Ang said.
Eagle is currently expanding its Bulacan plant with an additional grinding capacity of 1.5 million metric tons, bringing the plant’s total annual cement capacity to 8.6 million metric tons by 2020. Eagle chair Ramon S. Ang had also confirmed earlier reports that Eagle was among those bidding for the Philippine assets of LafargeHolcim, the biggest player in domestic cement manufacturing. /kga