Emperador, The Keepers post higher H1 profits

The liquor units of business tycoons Andrew Tan and Lucio Co saw higher profits in the first semester of 2022 following the removal of stringent pandemic restrictions that hindered business activity.

Tan’s Emperador Inc. said net income from January to June rose 3 percent to P5.3 billion while Co-led The Keepers Holdings Inc. announced a 39.5 percent profit jump to P980.7 million.

Both companies also reported strong sales, with Emperador underscoring contributions from the international segment, and plans to form a new joint venture in China.

Emperador, part of the Tan family conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc., is the world’s biggest brandy producer and owner of whisky maker Whyte and Mackay.

Sales rose 11 percent to P28 billion, brandy sales along improving 9.5 percent while overseas sales, driven by whisky, improved 13 percent.

“[T]o further strengthen our international business, we are exploring a joint venture in China. Our focus on China is part of our ‘internationalization’ strategy,” Emperador president Winston Co in a statement.

Last month, Emperador completed a secondary listing in the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. in a bid to raise its global profile.

“Our international business continued to perform well led by the single malt whisky portfolio, which continues to be amongst the fastest growing single malts in the world. Growth continued to be strong in Asia, Europe, and North America,” Co said.

Overall, we are looking forward to stronger second half performance,” he added.

The Keepers said sales were driven by all categories, namely, imported wine, spirts and specialty beverages.

The company’s consolidated revenues rose 27.4 percent to P5.48 billion. Volume also jumped 23 percent to 2.1 million cases in the first semester of the year.

The Keepers said earnings were bolstered by imported brandy, whose sales had “surpassed prepandemic levels.”

“Sales performance from our wines as well as specialty beverages categories also registered remarkable growth contributing to the overall revenue growth during the same period which clearly indicates a recovering demands with the easing of community restrictions,” the company added