Honeywell expects strong revenue growth in PHL

DIVERSIFIED products and technology company Honeywell International Philippines, Inc. opened its central office in Taguig City on Tuesday, a sign of its bullish outlook on the country.

Honeywell Philippines President Jeffrey R. Estrella said the company has been recording a revenue growth of more than twice the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) of 6.5% in the past two years.

“In terms of total revenues, without going in specifics, the last two years I would say that we’ve grown more than double GDP. This year is no exemption to that,” he said during a media round table at the company’s office.

For 2019, Mr. Estrella said revenue growth “should be between two to three times GDP” at the minimum.

Since one of Honeywell’s businesses is in aerospace, he noted delivery of new aircraft to local airlines helped push revenue growth. Its partnership with Petron Corp. for refinery expansion in July was another driver of Honeywell’s growth.

Even before it opened a central office in Taguig, Honeywell has been in the Philippines since 2003 through a facility for manufacturing and repair in Subic Bay. But Mr. Estrella said in terms of management, the team used to comprise only around 20 employees who worked from home.

Honeywell is involved in producing technologies installed in building systems, aircraft, refineries, retails and warehouses, among others. At present, 75% of the company’s total work force come from shared services with its global unit, Honeywell International, Inc., according to Mr. Estrella.

Honeywell President for ASEAN Briand Greer, who joined the round table discussion on Tuesday via conference call, said Honeywell aims to increase its presence and investment in leadership talent in the Philippines.

“We designated the entire ASEAN region as a high growth region for us. And that’s why we have Jeff and his team specifically based in the Philippines… This just really shows our commitment to what we’re doing overall for ASEAN,” Mr. Greer said.

Mr. Greer said about 15 years ago, Honeywell started boosting its presence in China, which generated higher revenues for the company.

“(Initially), we had a presence there (in China) but frankly it wasn’t very big. And so what we started doing was we invested in people… to help us design products, to manufacture products right there in the region. Because we figured out if we’re bringing our products over from the US, it’s not working out. So it’s really about being local,” he said.

“We have this framework that we figured out, where in China for us, we’re growing at over two times the GDP every single year. And we’re starting to apply that same formula around the world… and we’ve been very successful in doing that,” Mr. Greer added.

Mr. Estrella said Honeywell is expected to hire around 200 more employees and expand in the Visayas and Mindanao in the coming year. —