CEMENT company Holcim Philippines Inc. said it will shut down one of its plants in Davao this month for preventive maintenance.
Company President and Country CEO Eduardo Sahagun said the closure for its regular maintenance may have little impact on its income for the second quarter.
The company said its income was flat at P1.5 billion during the first quarter of the year, as a result of its scheduled shutdown for maintenance of most of its plants in Luzon in January to March.
The company, however, said its revenues for the period was higher at 17 percent to P10.1 billion, from last year’s P8.6 billion, mainly as a result of robust construction in the country. “Moving forward, we are cautiously optimistic as we await the results of the coming elections. Hopefully, the focus on infrastructure remains, as this is much needed by the country to sustain its development,” he said.
The maintenance was the cause of the company’s flat performance since its expenses rose during the period. There were no plant shutdowns last year.
It shut down its plants in La Union and Bulacan during the first quarter. Holcim said production cost for the period grew 23 percent due to the plant maintenance and higher consumption of imported clinker and cement to support volume growth.
For the period, there were sustained rollouts of private projects and higher state spending for infrastructure. The government allocated this year P760 billion for infrastructure spending, equivalent to 5 percent of the country’s GDP.
Holcim usually gets 40 percent of its sales from government projects and the rest from the private sector.
Sahagun said government projects may have a pause during the next two quarters as a result of the national elections, but it may resume toward the end of the year, as the new administration starts working on its infrastructure projects.
On a year-on-year basis, operating earnings before interest depreciation and amortization was at P2.5 billion, or a growth of 5.3 percent.