URC chair Lance Gokongwei with URC president/CEO Irwin Lee
Gokongwei-led Universal Robina Corp. grew its nine-month net profit by 7.1 percent year-on-year to P7.5 billion as households focused their spending on basic food and beverages at a time when the coronavirus (COVIR-19) pandemic has dragged the economy into a recession.
For the third quarter alone, URC’s attributable net profit rose by 5.35 percent year-on-year to P1.97 billion as lower input costs and tighter spending made up for flat sales, based on the company’s regulatory filing.
Including earnings attributable to minority interest, URC’s nine-month net profit rose by 12 percent year-on-year to P8.14 billion. Lower debt and interest expense and lower foreign exchange losses also contributed to the earnings growth.
“The current environment continues to pose severe challenges to the business. Weaker consumer sentiment and slowing retail sales in Q3, plus sluggish macroeconomic fundamentals, are weighing on a slower path to market recovery,” URC president Irwin Lee said in a press statement on Friday.
“Despite these challenges, we remain focused on operational excellence, business transformation, and investing in building stronger brands and innovation to fuel growth. This focus is helping us perform ahead of market trends. More importantly, this enables us to continue supporting and partnering with our customer and suppliers to serve the needs of our consumers and communities in this time of crisis,” he added.
URC benefited from lower cost of raw and packaging materials costs, manufacturing costs and direct labor costs while selling and distribution costs as well as general and administrative expenses also declined in the third quarter and during the nine-month period compared to respective levels last year.
For the nine-month period, URC’s sales reached P99.8 billion, up by a modest 2 percent year-on-year. For the third quarter alone, however, sales were flat at P32.36 billion compared to P32.74 billion year-on-year.