RCI unit secures loan from DBP

Roxas sigma agriventures Inc., a unit of publicly-listed Roxas and Co. Inc. (RCI), on Tuesday said it is boosting its plant output following the approval of a P100-million facility from stateowned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Edgar P. arcos, RCI president and CEO and ex-officio Roxas-sigma president, said the loan will be used for the working capital requirement of its integrated coconut processing plant in Tupi, south Cotabato for the rest of the year.

Roxas sigma is pushing for the phase 1 of its expansion program to meet higher demand from international business-to-business customers in North america, Europe and asia Pacific.

arcos expects a sharp production rebound in the second half of 2021 as demand for its coconut cream and milk, coconut water concentrate, and virgin coconut oil continues to rise, the company said.

Roxas sigma is a joint venture between RCI and sigma xynergies Corp.

The partnership was formed with the objective of establishing and operating a premier integrated coconut processing plant to serve business needs for high-quality coconut products, locally and globally.

The company has chosen Tupi, south Cotabato in the Philippines as the site for its processing plant.

In the first quarter, RCI revenues stood at P535 million, six times higher than last year, mainly due to raw land sales and the recovery of hotel and coconut product sales.

RCI incurred losses of P1.15 billion in 2020 primarily due to the lockdowns that led to the temporary closure of anya Resort Tagaytay and Go Hotels in Manila as well as the Roxas-sigma coconut processing plant in Tupi, south Cotabato and its equity stake in Roxas Holdings Inc.

arcos earlier said anya was able to recover in the last quarter of 2020 and ended the year strong as guests from Metro Manila patronized its luxury rooms and food outlets.

Go Hotels made a quick pivot as quarantine facilities for returning overseas Filipino workers starting in mid-april last year, with occupancy levels recovering up to 50 to 70 percent for the rest of 2020.

While the coconut manufacturing plant was not spared from the impact of Covid-19, arcos said the facility revisited process flows to maintain output efficiencies.