Ayala keen on keeping IMI
MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp. will keep its loss-making manufacturing arm, saying that the company would likely swing back to profitability following efforts to reduce costs and inventory levels.
Alberto de Larrazabal, Ayala chief financial officer, told reporters on Wednesday night that they would focus on improving the sales of Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) this year.
“We brought in a whole new team, they’ve done an excellent job in restructuring the organization, reducing the cost,” De Larrazabal said.
“You now have a much more profitable operation. That way, you can be more competitive on the sales side of things,” he added, noting that they were “not entertaining any offers” from investors willing to buy IMI.
READ: Ayala’s IMI losses widen to $3.7M
De Larrazabal clarified, however, that they were more optimistic about IMI’s core businesses, as subsidiary VIA Optronics was still navigating a challenging business environment.
“We’re still trying to figure out what to do with the subsidiary. But having said that, we have actually exited certain product lines. We know we don’t have the capability,” he said.
This comes as IMI, an electronics manufacturing solutions firm, continued to bleed in the first nine months of 2024, although it had significantly reduced its net loss by 90 percent to $9.24 million.
IMI’s revenues dipped by 18.6 percent to $841 million due to lower sales amid “soft market conditions.”
IMI CEO Louis Hughes previously said securing order demand “remains a challenge,” with the company instead focusing on rightsizing initiatives and becoming “more selective” of the projects they want to pursue.
According to him, these initiatives may result in around $25 million in annualized reduction for 2024.
Last month, IMI closed its facility in Chengdu, China that was opened in 2010 in an effort to streamline its operations and reduce costs.
Remaining projects were transferred to other IMI facilities, the company said.
IMI was founded in 1980 as a joint venture between Ayala and Resins Inc., and integrated circuit assembler.
