Philippine producer Republic Cement Corp said its net profit for last year reached 909.3 million pesos, 14 per cent more than the 798.0 million pesos in made in 2004, aided by higher exports and selling prices.
The company said net sales grew 6.3 per cent to 12.04 billion pesos, despite weak demand for cement in the domestic market. Operating expenses grew 20 perb cent to 1.17 billion pesos.
"The decline [in domestic sales] is attributable to the reduction in government spending as austerity measures were undertaken to reduce the fiscal deficit, inflationary pressures affecting costs of construction materials and slowdown in private construction," the company said in a financial report filed with the stock exchange here.
