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By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel Reporter
THE maker of the popular C2 tea
drink and Jack ’n Jill snack foods said net income in the first
six months of the year tripled due to the sale of the company’s
stake in a sister property developer and higher revenues generated
by its food and beverage lines.
Universal Robina Corp. (URC) on
Thursday told the Philippine Stock Exchange that its unaudited
consolidated income jumped by 200 percent to P4.697 billion from
September last year to end-June this year, as its recurring net
profit grew by 35 percent to P2.118 billion.
Earnings for the period include
the P2.859-billion gain from the sale of URC’s shares in Robinsons
Land Corp. and the P435 million impairment loss provision for
the manufacturer’s machines and equipment.
The branded consumer food
group’s sales revenue was the largest contributor at 14-percent,
or a P14.765 billion jump in sales on the back of the 25-percent
increase in sales volume.
URC’s beverage products like
the C2 tea drink account for a quarter of the food group’s sales.
Sales of the tea drink comprised 53.8 percent of total volumes, and
surged by 71.5 percent from a year ago. Snack food sales inched up
by 4.9 percent to P8.706 billion, boosted by domestic food
consumption recovery and election spending.
International sales, however,
dipped by 5 percent to P5.48 billion as revenues from China and
Indonesia contracted due to the stronger peso. But in dollar terms
sales grew by 3.28 percent to $113.3 million. Sales from China also
contracted with the scaling back of the business to rationalize
operating costs.
Sales from Thailand grew by 25
percent in dollar terms while those for Vietnam were buoyed by
health snack and beverage sales. Malaysia and Indonesia were also
affected by the changes in distribution structures and shortage of
potato flakes that affected the potato chip brands in the first
quarter.
URC’s agro-industrial
group grew by 10 percent to P3.9 billion due to higher sales volume
while net sales in the firm’s commodity foods group contracted by
6.5 percent to P2.58 billion.
Operating profit slightly grew by
10 percent to P2.42 billion due to “resilient revenue growth”
that offset the increase in raw and packing material prices.
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