The improvement in income was attributed to the 19 percent jump in sales revenues to P9.2 billion from P7.7 billion in the same period last year. From an operating loss of P33 million last year, Purefoods registered an operating income of P294 million.
Fueling the company’s growth in the first quarter was its poultry business. Purefoods has contracted two integrated processing plants in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija and Tiaong, Quezon to reduce processing and freight cost to improve the quality of the products.
Purefoods has also started exporting poultry products to Japan, affirming its capability to penetrate a stringent regional market. It signed recently a deal with Japanese meat packing company Yonekyu Corp.
The firm’s flour business, on the other hand, posted growth of an 11 percent and 22 percent in volume and revenues, respectively. Growth was achieved as the flour industry was drawn in a price war during the first half of the year following sluggish demand for commodities.
Purefoods-Hormel Co. Inc. likewise sustained its strong performance as its refrigerated meat products, specially hotdogs and cold cuts, continued to enjoy leadership in the market. It also successfully launched 17 new products in the market, which contributed an additional P241.5 million in sales.
Magnolia Inc.’s integration in the San Miguel food group effectively expanded the company’s product lines to include dairy and desserts. Revenue contribution from this segment was P1.9 billion.