Eagle Cement earns 35% more to P4.7 Billion

MANILA, Philippines — Eagle Cement Corp., the listed cement company chaired by Ramon Ang, reported a 35 percent growth in net income to P4.7 billion in the nine months to September.

This was on the back of net sales of P15.3 billion, 25 percent higher than the same period a year ago.

The latest results show that Eagle continues to buck the trend in the cement industry, which has had a challenging environment over the past two years, analysts said.

Eagle attributed the increase in sales to higher volume, brought about by private consumption  and an increase in selling price of cement.

Gross profit amounted to P6.7 billion, 20 percent better than the previous year. EBITDA grew 20 percent to P6.1 billion.

In the third quarter alone, Eagle’s net sales grew 21 percent to P4.8 billion, bringing net income to P1.4 billion or an increase of 18 percent year on year.

Eagle president and chief executive officer Paul Ang said the company is poised to deliver double-digit growth toward the remainder of the year as local demand for cement continues to pick up.

This is in line with the anticipated pickup in construction activities coming from both public and private sectors.

“Our year-to-date solid financial performance is stirred by our relentless efforts to provide world-class, quality cement products at affordable prices while still maintaining our operating efficiencies,” Ang said.

Eagle Cement’s financial condition remains healthy. Total assets rose five percent to P47.8 billion.

“As we operate in a more competitive environment, we will continue to embark on our organic growth strategy and penetrate new geographies to maximize the growth potential of the cement industry and drive sustainable returns for the company,” Ang said.

Eagle is expanding its capacity to capitalize on the growth of the domestic economy.

Its grinding capacity expansion is underway, which will increase Eagle’s annual cement capacity by 1.5 million metric tons (MMT) to 8.6 MMT by 2020.