MANILA, Philippines - Listed sugar miller Roxas Holdings Inc. registered a 90 percent drop in its net income after tax in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending in December 2014, as its Batangas milling operations were delayed pending maturity of sugarcane.
The group posted a net income after tax (NIAT) of P9 million, down from the P91 million registered in the same period the previous fiscal year.
RHI chaiman Pedro E. Roxas said the drop in earnings was mainly due to the late start of milling operations in Batangas during the quarter as canes were first allowed to mature.
“The group’s NIAT dropped significantly during the period because we had to wait for the canes in Batangas to mature, and due to lower cane supply in Negros,” he said.
RHI president and CEO Renato Valencia expects the group’s performance to pick up in the succeeding quarters because of higher sugar recovery in its Batangas milling operations.
“Our sugar and ethanol operations in Negros posted positive gains during the quarter. Our wait for the canes to mature in Batangas is now paying off with higher recoveries and we are confident that the group’s performance will pick up in the coming quarters as cane supplies come in,” he said.
The group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was down 33 percent during the quarter at P252 million from P378 million in the same period the previous year.
RHI is an integrated sugar milling business exercising full management of Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc., in Nasugbu, Batangas, as well as Central Azucarera de la Carlota, Inc., and Roxol Bionergy Corp. In La Carlota, Negros Occidental.
It also holds a 45 percent interest in sugar miller Hawaiian-Philippine Company in Negros Occidental.
The company is currently upgrading its plants to improve production efficiency and sugar recovery to remain competitive as sugar tariff are reduced to five percent this year in line with the full implementation of the free trade regime in Southeast Asia in 2015.