Victorias Milling profit drops 53% in 6 months

MANILA, Philippines — Listed sugar miller Victorias Milling Co. Inc. (VMC) saw its net income in the first semester of the current crop year drop by 53 percent despite higher revenues.

In a regulatory filing, the company said profit reached P237 million in September 2017 to February 2018, lower than the P504 million recorded in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues inched up three percent to P4.18 billion, but total cost of goods sold surged 87 percent due to higher cost of canes and other raw materials and higher cost of off-season repairs incurred last quarter.

Production data showed that the company milled 1.9 million metric tons (MT) of canes, increasing raw sugar production by 14 percent to 3.52 million 50-kilogram bags (LKG).

Milling recovery rate, however, was slightly lower at 1.83 50-kilogram bags per ton cane (LKG/TC) milled.

VMC’s sugar milling business went up 6.6 percent to P4.02 billion due to higher sugar net production and early start of refinery operations.

Meanwhile, alcohol sales fell 53 percent to P106 million, while revenues from power generation increased six percent to P36 million.

The company’s distillery commenced operations only in January this year after completion of its expansion and dehydrator projects.

Alcohol production reached 1.5 million liters compared to last year’s four million liters.

VMC expects an increase in alcohol production in the succeeding months due to expanded daily capacity of 50,000 liters.

The company is engaged in integrated raw and refined sugar manufacturing with plant facilities in Negros Occidental. It operates mill and refinery facilities for sugar and allied products, and engineering services.

Its operating subsidiaries include Victorias Food Corp., Victorias Agricultural Land Corp., Canetown Development Corp., and Victorias Golf and Country Club Inc.