Vitarich posts P71-M net loss

VITARICH Corp. reported a 133-percent year-on-year surge in its net loss for the first semester, reaching P71.5 million this year from P30.6 million previously.

In a performance report, Vitarich said this arose from greater loss on sale of property, plant and equipment as well as from provision of probable losses.

Even then, the food, animal feeds and livestock company said it saw a 184-percent jump in operating income to P29 million.

This was attributed to cost savings, improved efficiencies, better raw material prices, and increased volume.

Also, Vitarich chalked up a 19-percent growth in consolidated sales at P1.4 billion amid higher volume of feeds and chicken sold.

Further, Vitarich saw its gross profit rose by 181 percent to P137 million, with the gross profit rate at 10 percent from 4 percent in the first half of 2014.

This was attributed by the company to improved cost and efficiency of its poultry and feed operations, better inventory management, and lower raw material costs.

This “shows that we were able to sustain the growth momentum that we started at the onset of 2015,” Vitarich chief operating officer Ricardo Manuel Sarmiento said in a statement.

“We will continue to implement aggressive marketing campaigns in order to further strengthen and expand our sales and distribution network, enhance the market visibility of the group’s products, and further strengthen our niche markets,” Sarmiento said.

He added that Vitarich and its subsidiaries would continue to pursue the improvement of margins by optimizing size distribution, maintaining an efficient supply chain, and enhancing operational efficiency and productivity.

“For 2015 and beyond, we plan to further expand our poultry business by increasing our breeder capacity, enhance our volume base by repositioning our animal and aqua feed lines, and increase our food market base by developing chicken and dory value-added products,” the COO said.