Century Pacific allots up to P1.8 B for capex

MANILA, Philippines — Century Pacific Food Inc. is setting aside P1.5 billion to P1.8 billion for capital expenditures this year, bulk of which will go to the construction of a new tuna plant in General Santos City.

The expansion is in line with Century Pacific’s efforts to grow its business by 10 to 15 percent in the next 10 years.

In a press briefing after the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday, Century Pacific executive chairman Christopher Po said the company is building a new plant with a size of 50 to 100 metric tons.

The new plant, which is targeted to be completed by the end of next year, will rise in General Santos City where the company also has existing manufacturing plants.

At present, the company’s capacity is 300 to 350 MT, already at 90 percent utilization,  said Ricardo Gabriel Po, vice chairman of Century Pacific.

With the new plant, the company expects to meet growing demand for its tuna products in the next three to five years.

At present, the company’s tuna business accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the business, with half of that accounting for exported tuna in different countries across the globe.

Po said the company is strong in Europe and Japan and would continue to explore other markets such as Israel in the Middle East.

Century Pacific is the largest canned food company in the Philippines. It is engaged in the development, marketing and distribution of processed fish, meat, dairy and coconut under its own brands as well as the brands of others.

It maintains market leadership locally in the canned fish and canned meat segments and is actively growing its presence in canned and powdered milk.

The company is also the country’s leading exporter of original equipment manufacturer tuna, The OEM export segment has since expanded  to include one of the Philippines’ largest manufacturing facilities for high-value coconut products, both conventional and organic-certified.

Moving forward, Century Pacific sees net income growing by “mid single digit” this year amid some headwinds including cost pressures, rising fuel and commodity prices and the depreciation of the peso.

The company reported a four percent decline in net income last year to P2.55 billion due to higher cost of raw materials.

Po said the company is in exploratory talks to further expand its portfolio.

Last year, Century Pacific acquired the Hunt’s license for the Philippines whose products include pork and beans.