D&L sees 10% growth in ’17 bottom line

Food ingredient and chemical manufacturer D&L Industries sees a better chance of growing full-year net profit by at least 10 percent as growth picked up pace in the third quarter.

D&L grew third quarter net profit by 15 percent year-on-year to P771 million, bringing nine-year net to P2.12 billion or 10 percent higher year-on-year.

In the third quarter, earnings and volume growth started to pick up following lackluster growth in the second quarter. High-margin specialty products volume growth also started trending back to its historical average of 7 percent.

The flattish growth in the second quarter was a temporary effect of the high earnings base in 2016 which was boosted by election-related spending, the company said.
The fourth quarter is historically D&L’s strongest quarter, thus boosting confidence that it could sustain a double-digit growth for the full year.

In the first nine months, export sales grew by 74 percent year-on-year. Exports now account for a quarter of total business compared to just 18 percent in 2016. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA