House of Investments, the listed holding company of the Yuchengco Group, closed down five car dealerships to streamline operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Honda Fairview, Honda Marikina, Honda Marcos Highway, Isuzu Greenhills and Honda Kalookan (under Honda Kalookan Inc) would be shut down Tuesday.
HI vice president for finance Esperanza Joven said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the decision to close down the dealerships was made after the company conducted a careful and thorough assessment of its car business organization, dealerships and the needed manpower, machines and process.
“Pursuant to such assessment, the company has decided to implement business measures that will ensure overall greater efficiency, particularly the close of the following car dealerships, effective June 2, 2020 and the implementation of a redundancy program in connection with the same,” HI said.
The company did not disclose how many workers would be affected by the closure of the car dealerships.
HI is a diversified holding and investment management company with core investments in car dealership, construction, education and project and property management. Its portfolio investments cover pharmaceuticals, energy, afterlife services and consumer finance.
The group owns and operates car dealerships under the Honda and Isuzu brands. Its Honda dealerships are in Quezon Avenue, Manila, Marikina, Fairview and Marcos Highway. It has one service center in Tandang Sora.
HI also owns a majority stake in Honda Cars Kalookan Inc. that owns and operates dealerships in Kalookan and Greenhills.
The company’s Isuzu dealerships are in Manila, Commonwealth, Greenhills and Leyte.
HI owns a majority stake in EEI Corp., one of the largest Philippine construction and general contracting firms with domestic and international operations in Asia and Saudi Arabia.
It also owns a majority stake in iPeople Inc. which owns the Malayan Education System Inc. under the name of Mapúa University.
The share price was unchanged at P3.25 Monday.