SMB eyes P12-P15B profit this year

THE COUNTRY’S leading beer brewery San Miguel Brewery Inc. expects to chalk up P12 to P15 billion in net profit this year on the back of a double-digit expansion in volume growth.

Ramon S. Ang, SMB chair and president of San Miguel Corp., said after a slowdown in volume due to the increase in excise taxes last year, volume growth this year was likely to reach 15 percent.

Ang said the P4 billion net profit chalked up in the first quarter was very good, considering this was not yet the peak season. As such, he said full-year earnings could reach P12 to P15 billion compared to last year’s P13.5 billion.

Like other liquor companies, SMB is unfazed by the nationwide liquor ban proposed by president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, noting that the company’s volume in Davao City had not gone down despite the prevailing liquor ban there.

“And many of the beer drinkers are call center agents; they drink in the morning,” Ang said.

With a 97-percent market share, Ang said SMB had no need for big expansion. “We are already doing very well” he said.

At the same time, he said prospects for SMB’s non-alcoholic beverage segment was likewise “bullish.”

In the first quarter, SMB posted a 23 percent growth in both consolidated revenues and net income year-on-year. Revenues amounted to P23.3 billion.

Locally, SMB introduced new campaigns backed by consumer and trade programs to strengthen market leadership and further generate consumption. As a result, first quarter volumes grew by 25 percent to 51 million cases.

Net income from Philippine operations rose by 18 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, ending period at P3.8 billion.