MANILA, Philippines — Poultry and feed manufacturer Vitarich Corp. saw double-digit growth in its profit and revenue in the first quarter on sustained strong sales.
The company disclosed that its net income jumped by 66 percent to P67.9 million from P40.8 million in the same period in 2022.
Revenue grew by 27 percent to P3.3 billion, driven by price adjustments and robust sales volume across segments.
“We are very pleased to have made such a strong start to the year. We continue to grow revenues in line with our long-term targets and work towards improving our profit margins. We also implement improvement initiatives to manage our working capital through reduction in inventory levels, process optimization, and more effective performance monitoring,” Vitarich president and CEO Rocco Sarmiento said.
Vitarich said cost of goods increased by 27 percent to P3 billion due to higher costs of feed ingredients and unfavorable foreign exchange rates, as well as transportation, freight, and handling.
Key raw materials including wheat, soybean, and corn – which comprised about 70 percent of feed costs – remained elevated with an average increase of 19 percent year-on-year.
Gross profit grew by 32 percent to P320.3 million while operating profit jumped by 43 percent to P105.8 million, driven by by pricing adjustments, increased capacity utilization, and management actions aimed at mitigating input cost inflation, which included prioritizing local sourcing over importation and forward booking over spot purchases of raw materials.
Revenues of the foods segment – which comprised 52 percent of the total – saw a 22 percent rise to P1.73 billion due to the steady demand from commercial customers such as hotels, restaurants, and institutions in Luzon.
Vitarich upgraded its dressing plant facilities in Bulacan, increased its cold storage and blast freezing capacity and generated operating efficiencies during the quarter.
Revenues from the feeds division, which accounted for 45 percent of the total, advanced 37 percent to P1.5 billion.
This was fueled by both volume gains and price increases, which have sequentially stepped up over the past five quarters to cover rising input costs, Vitarich said.
On the contrary, farms revenues were down five percent to P115.7 million and cornered three percent of the total.