Roxas Holdings reverses net loss to P99-M net profit in fiscal first 4 mos.

Sugar producer Roxas Holdings Inc. on Wednesday said it posted a P99-million net income in the first four months of its fiscal year, from a net loss of P230 million a year earlier.   In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Roxas Holdings cited its unaudited financial and operating results for October 2011 to January 2012 and said it was able to turn around its financial and operating results for the period on the back of higher margins, lower manufacturing and operating expenses and lower financing costs.   The company’s “improved performance is also driven by more efficient raw sugar production as a result of good cane harvest and expanded capacity of Central Azucarera de la Carlota Inc., its mill in Negros Occidental.”   Revenues were steady at P2.5 billion from its year-ago P2.6 billion as the company continued to gain from the higher refined sugar prices and sales from the export of raw sugar to Japan and South Korea.   “Apart from substantially reducing our overhead expenses, noteworthy of the steps we have taken is the restructuring of our long-term loans we secured in 2008 to bankroll our expansion and diversification projects,” said company chair Pedro Roxas.   “Our term lenders granted us another grace period of three years, which will significantly reduce our cash outflows and greatly improve our liquidity situation,” Roxas added.   In its last fiscal year ending September 2011, Roxas Holdings recorded a P742-million net loss, primarily impairment losses incurred from selling sugar at a loss because of sharp fluctuations in raw sugar prices.   The operational hiccups encountered at the maiden run of its bioethanol unit, Roxol Bioenergy Corp. also weighed against it bottom line. — CMA/VS, GMA News