Pepsi Cola income rises 2% to P279M in six months

Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) said its net income in the first half of its current fiscal year rose by only two percent to P279.27 million due to higher expenses.

In a financial report filed at the Philippine Stock Exchange, PCPPI said net sales went up by 10 percent to P6.43 billion from P5.85 billion as sales volume expanded by eight percent. This was primarily driven by the increase in volume of non-carbonated beverages by 39 percent or two million eight-ounce case equivalents.

Gross revenue reached P7.6 billion or an increase of 11 percent, driven by the growth in carbonated softdrink revenue of seven percent and non-carbonated beverage revenues of 35 percent. Gross profit likewise grew 18 percent to P2.07 billion compared with only P1.76 billion a year earlier.

Cost of goods sold amounted to P4.36 billion, up 6.6 percent from P4.09 billion. Selling and distribution expenses rose 13 percent to P880 million as a result of an increase in headcount and salary increases.

Marketing expense likewise increased to P408.8 million from P171.4 million. PCPPI said the additional one-time marketing investment was made to seize opportunities that would help deliver long-term business growth.

As of end-2007, total assets stood at P7.43 billion or an increase of 9.5 percent from P6.785 billion due to the acquisition of bottles and cases and property plant and equipment amounting to P1.2 billion.

PCPPI, the licensed bottler of Pepsico beverages in the Philippines, manufactures and distributes a range of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages which include well-known beverage brands such as Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Light, Pepsi Max, 7Up, Diet 7Up, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lipton Iced Tea, Tropicana, Propel and Sting.

The company has 11 manufacturing plants throughout the country and distributes its products through 101 warehouses and 99 sales offices together with an extensive third-party distribution network to around 300,000 outlets.

The company raised P4 billion from an initial public offering early this year to fund its ongoing expansion program which includes the installation of additional bottling lines to increase capacity.

PCPPI has set aside P2.5 billion for its capital expenditures this year to continue introducing new non-carbonated beverage products as more health-conscious consumers switch to vitamin-infused energy drinks and bottled water.