Mr. Roxas also reported that the company's EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes. Depreciation and Amortization) for the first half reached close to P1 billion, a major improvement relative to previous levels.
"Our efforts to contain costs and manage our margins are beginning to bear fruits," he said.
RHI President and CEO Renato C. Valencia said the company is rightsizing, restructuring its business segments and streamlining its operations to prepare for the reduction of tariff on sugar imparts from 38 percent to 5 percent in 2015, as well as for a possible regime of low sugar prices in the coming years.
"We have restructured our term loans and secured three years' grace period on principal amortizations to give us time to accumulate enough cash to pay down these loans in the coming years," he furthered.
Mr. Valencia added the company is trying hard not only to bring down its overhead and interest burden, but more importantly, its production costs. "For this purpose, the company recently hired a foreign expert to do a technical audit of our sugar milling and refinery operations,'' he said.
Revenues, on the other hand, dipped to P3.5 billion from fast yews P4 billion, primarily due to a sharp drop in the selling prices of sugar from its year-ago level.
Meanwhile, the company's massive cost-containment measures brought down its cost of sales by 25 percent to P2.5 billion from last year's P3.3 billion.
"A bulk of our cost of sales comes from energy cost. To address this, our plants now primarily run using bagasse as a cheaper and cleaner alternative to bunker fuel," Mr. Valencia explained.
"It is also worth noting that the improvements we have made in our operations and in cash management substantially reduced our debt level by P2 billion since last year," Mr. Valencia disclosed.
We expect to sustain the momentum and deliver positive results to our shareholders by yearend." he concluded.
Media Contact:
Celest Jovenir
Telephone Number: +632 810 8901 to 06 ext. 1811
Email Address: cmjovenir.rhi@cadp.com.ph
Website: www.rhi-cadp.ph
- https://www.affordablecebu.com/
