LBC profit up 38% as Filipinos swamp online markets

Leading courier service firm LBC Express Holdings returned to profitability in the third quarter as demand for logistics rebounded alongside the gradual reopening of the economy, boosting the company’s bottom line by 38 percent year-on-year despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

LBC’s net profit attributable to equity holders of parent firm surged to P448.5 million in the third quarter compared to P325.96 million in the same period last year. This also reversed the net loss of P679.62 million incurred during the second quarter, the period when the government imposed tough lockdown protocols in key regions to stem the spread of the virus.

This allowed LBC to narrow the attributable net loss to P53.23 million in the January to September period from the P501.7 million net loss in the first semester.

In the third quarter, LBC grew its service revenues by 6 percent year-on-year to P3.99 billion, boosted by the logistics segment. This was driven by a 33-percent increase in retail logistics sales.

LBC has continued to operate throughout the year, both in the Philippines and overseas, despite varied levels of government-mandated quarantine scenarios.

In the second quarter, however, demand for its services was affected by the lockdown measures.

In a press statement, LBC said there were challenges that remained in the forwarding segment throughout the country given various government regulations, specifically in air traffic operations.

E-commerce activities, however, have accelerated, with the consumer market increasingly participating in the online marketplace.

For the nine-month period, revenues totaled P9.63 billion, down by 16 percent year-on-year, largely attributable to the slump in volume from mid-March through May. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla