Century Pacific 2014 profit soars 112%

Century Pacific Food Inc., a major player in the canned seafood business, said its profit had jumped by 112 percent in 2014 on higher sales of its flagship branded products and better margins.

Century Pacific said in a stock exchange filing that its unaudited net income for 2014 hit P1.57 billion, up from P744 million in 2013. Total revenues hit P20.47 billion, up 8 percent from the level a year ago.

Century Pacific’s gains were driven by its branded business, which rose 24 percent in 2014. The branded business accounts for about 80 percent of it sales. The remainder comes from private-label tuna exports, which saw sales fall 29 percent in 2014.

The company said this was because prices were benchmarked against the cost of tuna, and the price of the fish fell “significantly” in 2014.

Lower tuna prices, plus the decline in other cost components, also led to an improvement in Century Pacific’s profitability, its filing showed.

Consolidated unaudited gross profit was P5.42 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 63 percent and a 26-percent gross profit margin in 2014. The company’s net income margin also improved to 8 percent in 2014 versus 4 percent in 2013, it added.

“The Philippines’ economic conditions have also been favorable and the purchasing power of Filipinos has increased,” Century Pacific chief finance officer Oscar Pobre said in the filing.

“We hope to maintain the good momentum coming into 2015. We will continue to leverage on the company’s leading brands and strong distribution network, meanwhile exploring new product categories and markets,” Pobre said.

Century Pacific’s full-year unaudited net income translates to a P0.75 earnings per share.

The company remains debt free, with zero interest-bearing debt as of the end of 2014.