Century Pacific earnings dive to P2.55 billion last year

MANILA, Philippines — Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF), the listed canned food company of the Po family, reported a four percent decline in net income last year to P2.55 billion due to higher cost of raw materials.

Consolidated revenues, however, grew 22 percent year-on-year, hitting record high sales of P34.5 billion.

CNPF is the Philippines’ largest canned food company and a leading exporter of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) tuna and coconut products.

In a regulatory filing, CNPF said the dip in income was due primarily to “higher raw material prices relative to their cyclical lows the year before.”

CNPF executive chairman Christopher Po said the company fared well despite higher costs.

“Amidst a more challenging input cost environment, our businesses fared relatively well. During this time, we’ve adopted a more conservative approach towards price increases in the face of inflationary pressures. This has helped further solidify our market shares, increase sales volume, and puts us in a good position to benefit once raw material prices soften,” Po said.

The company’s EBITDA meanwhile, remained largely unchanged at over P3.95 billion last year.

For the full-year, the branded business saw an 18 percent increase in sales to P24.9 billion, with all three units – marine, meat and milk – posting double-digit revenue growth.

The OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales also performed well, growing 34 percent to P9.6 billion, as the tuna OEM segment benefited from increased export activity and higher average selling prices.

The tuna OEM in particular performed well last year, owing primarily to the recovery of the global tuna market.

“For our branded segments, we saw consistent revenue expansion in core units and an increased presence in emerging categories,” Po also said.

But in terms of profitability, the company faced some challenges with gross profit down slightly to P8.52 billion.

Similarly, operating income was down five percent to P3.43 billion.