BEVERAGE firm Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) posted flat earnings last year relative to the previous year due to high sugar prices and spending for its start-up snackfood business.
In a regulatory filing, PCPPI reported its net profit last year at P812.08 million versus P810.94 million in 2014.
“Despite a sluggish industry growth and a very steep increase in sugar prices in the second half of the year, we still managed to grow our beverage profits for the full year. I am proud of what our team managed to accomplish in a very challenging year. This is a clear demonstration of the exceptional progress we have made as an organisation particularly on revenue management and driving cost productivity”, PCPPI president Furqan Ahmed Syed said in a press statement on Tuesday.
Gross sales revenue increased by 7 percent for the quarter and 8 percent for the full-year period, reaching P32 billion for the entire year. Revenue growth was ahead of volume growth, attributed to the company’s strong focus on revenue management and overlapping of pricing rollback versus last year.
The company invested P4.2 billion in manufacturing and distribution assets last year, 8 percent higher than year-ago level.
Syed said: “2015 was a special year for PCPPI. We began commercial production of our globally acclaimed snack food brands. The introduction of Lays and Cheetos at affordable price points opens up exciting new growth horizons for PCPPI. On the other hand, our beverage business performance also remains solid as we managed to outgrow the industry for yet another year”.
“We are well positioned to be a leading F&B company in the Philippines and we are bullish about the future of our business. We will continue to build our Food and Beverage portfolio and invest in accelerating our future growth,” Syed concluded.
PCPPI started commercial production of snacks in late 2014 and plans to capitalize on strong category opportunity.