Profits of Holcim, Cemex shrink

Holcim’s La Union plant

Holcim Philippines and Cemex Holdings Philippines, two of the country’s largest cement-makers, booked a double-digit year-on-year decline in net profit for the January to September period on slower sales volume and softer prices arising from tough competition.

Citing tighter competition and higher production expenses, Holcim reported a 57.6-percent year-on-year drop in nine-month net profit to P2.3 billion. For the third quarter alone, net profit slid to P337.18 million from P1.76 billion a year ago, Holcim disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

For Cemex, net income in the first nine months declined by 63 percent year-on-year to P688 million, attributed to lower prices and volumes. Prices declined in response to “heightened competitive conditions,” the company said in a separate disclosure. On a sequential basis, Cemex said its net income increased by 48 percent for the quarter.

Holcim’s third quarter sales revenues slipped to P8.3 billion from P10.1 billion as volumes and prices were curbed by a challenging market. For the nine-month period, revenues slipped to P25.7 billion from P31.0 billion in the same period last year.

The company also reported cost pressures from rising energy expenses and the declining peso.

For Cemex, domestic cement volume for the third quarter increased by 2 percent year-on-year and 4 percent sequentially. Year-to-date, domestic cement volume decreased by 3 percent compared to the previous year.

Financial expenses for the first nine months of 2017 declined by 39 percent versus the same period last year, which Cemex attributed to the refinancing of its U.S. dollar-denominated loan with local debt. With the conversion and denomination to local currency, other financial expenses for the first half of the year – mostly foreign exchange losses – also declined by 79 percent year-on-year for the nine-month period.