Del Monte expects to be back in black

MANILA, Philippines - Listed food conglomerate Del Monte Pacific Ltd. expects to return to profitability for its current fiscal year which runs from May this year to  April 2016.

“This year, we will return to profitability,” said Del Monte chief financial officer Ignacio Sison as he noted effective cost-management measures taken by the company.

“We’ve started a BPO (business process outsourcing) here in the Philippines,” he said.

The BPO serves the requirements of DMPL’s newly acquired subsidiary, Del Monte Foods Inc (DMFI).

With the acquisition of DMFI, DMPL has been growing its Asian American market.

“We’re shipping a lot of products from the Philippines,” Sison said, adding DMPL currently exports Del Monte canned and tetra pack juices as well as Del Monte spaghetti sauce.

He said three products are well received by the Asian-American community.

DMPL incurred a net loss of $12 million during the May to July period, which marks the first quarter of its fiscal year.  The net loss was attributed to the traditionally weak first quarter and the El Nino dry spell that affected the production of pineapples.

 Sales of DMFI rose 10 percent while sales of Del Monte in the Philippines grew went up by seven percent.

Last January, the company undertook a  rights issue in Singapore involving up to 641.93 million new ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.325 or P10.60 each share.