Cement producer Holcim Philippines Inc. said Friday it temporarily suspended the operations of its Batangas plant to lessen the impact of the pandemic.
Holcim Philippines said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its board of directors approved the temporary suspension of its grinding facility in Mabini, Batangas effective May 1 to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic and address escalating production costs.
“The temporary suspension of operations of the said facility will result in substantial cost savings ensuring that the Company will only spend where necessary to better protect the interest of our investors and other stakeholders,” the company said.
“The company has already put in place a plan so that the areas and customers being served by the Mabini Grinding Facility will continue to be served. To the extent possible, employees affected by the temporary suspension will be deployed to other facilities of Holcim Philippines,” it said.
Holcim reopened in 2013 the grinding cement plant which has an annual production capacity of 1 million metric tons.
The company said net income jumped by 81 percent in the first quarter to P909 million from P501 million in the same period last year even as revenues fell 6 percent to P6.8 billion from P7.27 billion.
“We delivered an excellent performance in the first quarter due to our sustained focus on health, cost and cash. Commercial excellence, operational efficiency and cost discipline were key drivers to our stronger profitability. Our company is committed to contributing to a healthy and sustainable growth of the construction industry in the Philippines,” Holcim Philippines president and chief executive Horia Adrian said.
“We continue to stay focused on our cost, operational discipline and providing customers with innovative products and solutions. To further protect our people and business we are implementing a voluntary COVID-19 vaccination program by the third quarter. This will further bolster our resilience and help us sustain robust performance,” he said.
