URC profit up 28.8%

Gokongwei-led Universal Robina Corp. (URC) grew its net profit by 28.8 percent year-on-year to P8.27 billion in the six-month period ending March 2016, buoyed by higher sales from its branded consumer food business.

This refers to net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent, excluding the share in the net income attributable to the non-controlling interest of Nissin-URC, URC’s 51 percent-owned subsidiary.

Cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) rose by 10 percent year-on-year during the first six months of its fiscal year to P11.98 billion.

Apart from the higher operating income, URC benefited from higher market valuation gain on financial assets and net foreign exchange gains.

URC generated a consolidated sale of goods and services of P58.538 billion for the six months ending March, marking a 5.2 percent sales growth over the same period last year.

Sale of goods and services in the branded consumer foods segment (BCFG), excluding packaging division, increased by 4.4 percent year-on-year to P47.864 billion. Domestic operations posted an increase of 2.6 percent in net sales to P30.410 billion for the first half of fiscal 2016, mainly driven by growth in ready-to-drink beverages and biscuits.

Due to the decline in the volume of powdered beverages, which was due to the slower growth of the coffee market, BCFG sales were muted. Aggressive moves of competitors to recover or gain market shares were also felt across all categories, especially snacks and coffee.

BCFG’s international operations reported a 7.7 percent increase in six-month net sales to P17.45 billion. In US dollar terms, sales increased by 2.1 percent to $371 million for the first half of fiscal 2016 against the same period last year.