Gokongwei-led Universal Robina Corp. (URC) doubled its net profit last year to P24.3 billion, primarily due to extraordinary gains from the sale of its businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
URC posted an unaudited 2021 net profit of 24.3 billion, up 109 percent from the previous year, as the group unloaded its Oceania businesses and reinvested in higher-growth core markets such as the recently acquired Munchy’s food business in Malaysia.
However, operating income and core net income from continuing operations both declined by 8 percent, partly mitigated by price increases and various cost savings initiatives as record commodity prices jacked up material input costs.
URC completed the divestment of its Oceania business on Oct. 29, 2021, generating one-time gains of about $250 million.
Despite pandemic challenges
Sales, excluding the Oceania business, grew by 3 percent for the full year to reach P117 billion, with continuing limitations on mobility, consumer sentiment and supply chain disruptions as the pandemic lingered. Momentum accelerated in the latter half of the year, with fourth-quarter sales rising by 12 percent quarter-on-quarter and 11 percent year-on-year.
“Coming through two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, URC remained strong, maintaining our leading positions in key markets and categories, continuing our innovation pipeline, becoming preferred partner of choice to customers and suppliers, step changing product supply chain transformation and accelerating a people and planet-friendly culture,” Irwin Lee, URC president and CEO, said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.
“While the challenges and uncertainties of hyper-cost inflation, global climate and political turbulence persist, our growth momentum and organizational commitment to excellence give us cause for optimism in 2022. We will continue to invest in our brands, build channel strength, make future bets in attractive white spaces and operate efficiently and sustainably, all toward future-proofing our growth,” Lee added.
Following its strong earnings performance, URC’s board approved an increase in dividend to P3.45 per share, up 5 percent and 10 percent from the dividends declared in 2021 and 2020, respectively.