Vitarich profit surges 4,900% for January-September

MANILA, Philippines — Vitarich Corp., one of the pioneering firms in poultry and feed manufacturing in the country, benefited from the reopening of the economy, even as the pandemic raged on, as its profit skyrocketed in the nine months to September this year.

In a regulatory filing, the company said net income reached P180.5 million during the nine-month period, a hefty 4,900 percent rise from P3.6 million in the same period last year.

Consolidated sales of goods went up 28 percent to P7.31 billion, the first time Vitarich surpassed the P7-billion revenue mark in any nine-month period.

Last year, Vitarich and the poultry industry suffered an oversupply of chicken brought about by the pandemic, resulting in unfavorable prices of chicken in the market.

It was also affected during the lockdown as hotels, restaurants and other institutions shut down operations as part of government’s protocols.

The aggregate revenue was composed of the sales of feeds, day-old chicks, chicken, animal health products, and dory fish.

Vitarich said volumes picked up strongly across all business segments, but were partially offset by the decline in average selling prices of chicken and day-old chicks due to the reimposed series of stricter quarantine measures since August.

For its feeds business, which accounted for 47 percent of total, revenues went up nine percent to P3.4 billion on the back of higher volumes for commercial and tie-up customers combined.

In the food segment, revenues surged 40 percent to P3.1 billion amid increase in volume and better selling prices. It cornered 42 percent of total revenues.

The farms segment, which shared the remaining 11 percent of revenues, registered a 134 percent hike to P800 million.

Meanwhile, cost of goods jumped 25 percent to P6.6 billion on higher prices of raw materials such as wheat, soybean and corn.

Vitarich is expecting a better performance in the fourth quarter as the holiday season approaches and as mobility curbs are eased on declining COVID-19 cases and higher vaccination coverage.

“For 2022, election spending may also result in accelerating economic activity and rebuilding a favorable environment for businesses — providing the boost we need,” the company said.