Phinma’s cement firm gets SEC approval

PHINMA CORP. has incorporated a new company that will handle its investments in the cement industry.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Thursday, Phinma said the Securities and Exchange Commission has released the certificate of incorporation for PhilCement Corp. last Wednesday.

“The new company shall engage in processing, marketing, importing, trading, selling, and distributing cement, cement products, and other by- products,” the company said.

The listed firm will subscribe to shares in the new company amounting to up to P210 million, in order to secure a 60% ownership of the firm. Phinma had earlier made an initial investment in the cement firm of P37.5 million last Sept. 8. This amount translates to a fourth of 15 million shares priced at a par value of P10 each for Phinma’s total subscription.

The price of the transaction was determined by the estimated project cost and investment by strategic partners, the company said.

“The business shall build on the management and technical expertise of Phinma as well as its years of experience in the cement industry,” Phinma said in the disclosure.

Incorporated in 1957 originally as Bacnotan Consolidated Industries, Inc., it was in 2010 when the company secured approval from the SEC to change its corporate name to the present one. The company serves as a holding firm for investments in education, steel products, housing, business process outsourcing, and energy.

Union Galvasteel Corp., Phinma Education Holdings, Inc., and Pamantasan ng Araullo are some of Phinma’s subsidiaries.

Phinma’s net income attributable to the parent dropped to P1.3 million in the first half of 2017, significantly lower than the P168 million it booked in the same period in 2016. Revenues, meanwhile, stood at P3.08 billion.

Shares in Phinma lost 10 centavos or 1.01% to close at P9.80 apiece at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday. —