URC profit spikes 12.6%

MANILA, Philippines - Snacks and beverage giant Universal Robina Corp. (URC) reported a double-digit spike in its earning during the first quarter of its current fiscal year, driven by the robust performance of its branded consumer food business.

The food manufacturing arm of the Gokongwei family said its net income in the first three months of its fiscal year beginning October 2014 rose 12.6 percent year-on-year to P3.25 billion as sales grew 18.7 percent to P26.95 billion.

URC attributed the strong sales mainly to its branded food and sugar businesses, which went up 20.3 percent and 28.7 percent, respectively.

URC said its Philippine branded consumer food business improved sales 16.9 percent to P14.84 billion from P12.7 billion during the same period the previous year.

“Beverage remained to be the main driver backed by the continued growth of our powdered beverage business, mainly coming from coffee, while capacity constraints affected ready-to-drink beverage performance. Our snack foods segment also posted revenue growth with contribution mainly coming from salty snacks, bakery and chocolates,” URC said.

URC’s international branded consumer food business, meanwhile, registered sales of P7.53 billion in the first quarter, 27 percent higher compared to the previous year.

“Thailand and Indonesia contributed to the good top-line growth. We have also started consolidating Griffin’s into URC international starting mid-November upon closing of the acquisition,” said the listed company behind top brands such as Jack n’ Jill, Hunt’s, C2, Blend 45, Uno Feeds and Cream All.

Sales of the company’s non-branded consumer food group also enjoyed a 10.8 percent growth in the first quarter to P4.28 billion due to increase in sales volume for sugar.

URC is one of the largest branded consumer food and beverage product companies in the Philippines and also has a significant and growing presence in the Southeast Asian markets.

The company is allocating about P9 billion for capital expenditures and investment for its fiscal year 2015, higher than its P7.697 billion capex budget in 2014.