Vitarich halves earnings in H1

MANILA, Philippines — Vitarich Corp., one of the pioneering firms in poultry and feed manufacturing in the country, nearly halved its net earnings in the first half of the year on elevated input costs.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Vitarich said its net income declined by 47 percent to P147.7 million this year.

Cost of goods climbed by 25 percent to P4.9 billion due to higher sales volume and prices of raw materials—such as wheat, soybean, and corn—which saw an average increase of 32 percent year-on-year.

The company also said the recent surge in fuel, energy, and labor costs impacted cost of sales as well as operating expenses, which also rose 25 percent.

This significantly cut revenues, which jumped 21 percent from P4.6 billion to P5.5 billion led by led by the foods business.

In a statement, Vitarich president and CEO Rocco Sarmiento said the company delivered record-breaking revenue performance even in the face of challenging macroeconomic headwinds.

“Through volume gains, responsible price increases, and operational efficiencies, we limited the impact of higher input costs on our profitability. At the same time, we successfully executed on our strategic plan of growing our core. We added several key accounts to our hotels, restaurants, institutional (HRI) customer list – including some leading fast food chains – and launched our branded chicken products, Cook’s, in various parts of the country,” he said.

The company said the food business was the largest contributor to revenues at 54 percent.

Continuing its strong recovery since 2021, the segment achieved record first half revenues of P3 billion, an increase of 55 percent year-on-year.

Its volume expanded 45 percent supported by an average price increase of six percent, with demand particularly high in Luzon and Mindanao.

The segment added a total of 13 HRI customers including some leading fast food chains, providing custom product and menu development suited to customer specifications.