Eagle Cement Corp. said balance sheet improved in the first quarter, providing the publicly-listed cement manufacturer the financial muscle to ride out the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our strong financial position will allow us to weather this health crisis battering the economy without giving up major components of our expansion plans, which will secure our future growth,” said Eagle president and chief executive Paul Ang.
Eagle ended the first quarter with total assets growing by 2 percent to P49.9 billion from P49.1 billion in end-2019 while total liabilities declined to P11.4 billion from P11.7 billion. Its stockholders’ equity rose by 3 percent to P38.5 billion.
The company’s current gearing gives it flexibility to continue pursuing investment plans moving forward, with debt-to-equity ratio at 0.30x and financial debt to equity ratio registering at 0.18x. This is still well below Eagle’s loan covenant requirements.
Net profit declined to P1.2 billion in the first quarter from P1.6 billion a year ago, reflecting the impact of the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.