Concepcion Industrial reports 20% profit hike

MANILA, Philippines - Homegrown appliance maker Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC)  grew its earnings by a fifth last year, driven by strong sales in both the consumer and commercial sectors.

CIC’s net income jumped nearly 20 percent to P511 million in 2013 from P426 million a year ago while net sales picked up 9.3 percent to P7.6 billion.

“With strong segment sales growth combined with improved margin in the airconditioning business and cost reduction focus in refrigeration, CIC saw profitability growth and net margin expansion,” the company said.

“While we pursue aggressive growth opportunities, the continued focus of CIC on efficiency and sustainable profitability has allowed us to grow our 2013 bottomline faster than sales growth even as we continue to invest in strategic activities for the year,” said CIC chief finance and information officer Victoria A. Betita.

She said strong sales were driven primarily by the growth in consumer sales segment with the expansion in first-time buyers and the replacement market while more orders were recorded for the commercial and institutional sector.

“The year 2013 was filled with numerous key accomplishments for our company. Aside from listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange, we have also focused our organization strategically to pave the way for future business expansion,” said CIC CEO and chairman Raul Joseph Concepcion.

Last month, CIC ventured into escalators and elevators after acquiring Otis E&M Co. Philippines Inc., one of the country’s leading providers of elevators and escalators.

Late last year, CIC subsidiary Concepcion Carrier Air Conditioning signed a deal with Midea Electric Trading (Singapore) Co., Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singaporean appliance giant Midea Group.