SMC unit to complete expansion in ’17

The food and beverage arm of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. will complete by next year a P52-billion expansion program, riding on buoyant local consumer demand.

In an interview after SMC’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday,  SMC president Ramon S. Ang said San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc. had invested heavily in boosting capacity in flour milling, feed milling and the food business lines.

For flour milling, Ang said Pure Foods had added 1,200 tons in daily production capacity from 1,600 daily previously.

Pure Foods is also adding seven feed milling facilities producing 500 million tons, creating 3.5 million tons of additional annual feeds production capacity, Ang said.  Asked whether the local market would be able to absorb this additional capacity, the SMC chief said even with the expansion, Pure Foods would be able to corner only 37 percent of the market share.

“It’s still not enough,” he said.

For the food business, Ang said Pure Foods was investing in additional capacity for hotdogs, chicken nuggets, canning line, poultry dressing plant and its ready-to-eat chicken and pork businesses.

At the same time, he said additional capacity for poultry and piggery operations would be built.

“All of that expansion will cost P52 billion. It will be completed by next year,” Ang said.

Pure Foods grew its first quarter net profit by 34 percent year-on-year to P1.2 billion while consolidated revenue reached P26 billion, 4 percent up year-on-year.  Cash flow rose by 19 percent to P2.5 billion. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla