Purefoods profit flat at P1.7B in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Higher expenses offset the improvement in revenues of the food and beverage unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in the first half, resulting in a flat income growth at P1.7 billion for San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc. (SMPF).

In a report to the local stock exchange, SMPF said its net income in the first six months was slightly lower than the P1.75 billion consolidated net income a year ago.

But consolidated revenues rose four percent to P49.2 billion, driven by the agro, milling and dairy businesses, SMPF said.

“Operating income grew 12 percent to P2.7 billion on the back of the strong performance of the company’s poultry and meats, flour and dairy businesses, which benefited from increased volumes, higher selling prices and better efficiencies in hog-raising,” it added.

In particular, the agro and milling businesses composed of feeds, poultry, meats and flour, posted a seven-percent improvement in combined revenues to P38.7 billion.

“The higher volumes are attributed to strong retail outlet sales for poultry and meats, and increased demand for customized flour, premixes and specialty flours,” SMPF said.

For its part, revenues of the branded value-added businesses, behind core brands Purefoods, Tender Juicy, Magnolia and San Mig Coffee,  inched up one percent to P10.2 billion.

SMPF said the company reported growth in its food service channel due to the expansion of the customer base, reflecting great demand for its products and services.

The SMPF board approved yesterday the declaration of cash dividends for both common and preferred shareholders at P1.20 and P20 per share, respectively. Stockholders as of Aug. 26 will receive the dividends on Sept. 3.

Parent firm SMC is into power (SMC Global Power Corp.), beer (San Miguel Brewery Inc.), packaging (San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.), liquor (Ginebra San Miguel Inc.), petroleum (Petron Corp.), airline (Philippine Airlines) and various infrastructure projects nationwide.