Eagle Cement income down 34% to P1.3B

EAGLE Cement Corp. registered a 34.2% decrease in its attributable net income to P1.3 billion in the second quarter as production costs increased due to surging prices and supply chain difficulties.

In its quarterly financial report on Monday, the company’s topline rose by 18.3% to P6.85 billion for the three months ending June from P5.79 billion in the previous year.

It said the increase in revenues “was offset by higher production cost due to surge in prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine situation and the recent frequent and wider ranging lockdowns in various manufacturing hubs causing bottlenecks in global supply chains.”

Operating expenses rose by 29.4% in the second quarter to P735.73 million and climbed by 35.3% in the first half to P1.45 billion.

“Operating expenses likewise increased by 35% largely due to higher freight costs attributable to sales volume growth and spike in oil prices, increase in warehousing expenses, personnel costs and higher spending on advertising and promotions expenses,” the company said.

In the first half of the year, the company’s income reached P2.97 billion, lower by 19.7% than last year’s P3.7 billion.

Revenues in the first semester reached P13.68 billion, 23.7% higher than last year’s P11.06 billion.

Eagle Cement is primarily engaged in manufacturing, marketing, selling, and distributing cement products.

On Monday, its shares rose by 0.56% or P0.08 to P14.40 apiece. — Justine Irish D. Tabile