Universal Robina boosts core earnings to P12.6B

MANILA, Philippines — The 2023 earnings of Gokongwei-led Universal Robina Corp. (URC) slipped by 12 percent to P12.8 billion in the absence of nonrecurring land sale gains that boosted comparable profit in the previous year.

Excluding one-off items, URC’s core income increased by 6 percent to P12.6 billion on better operating income, but tempered by higher interest rates that increased borrowing cost.

In a stock exchange filing on Thursday, URC said sales jumped 6 percent to P158.4 billion last year on the back of robust performance of the branded consumer goods and agro-industrial and commodities businesses.

READ: URC ventures into alcoholic beverage business

“Over the past few years, the company has made purposeful strategic decisions to enter new segments outside our core categories in the Philippines and to build new legs in international, all of which we are seeing come to fruition,” said URC president and CEO Irwin Lee.

Operating income, meanwhile, rose by 14 percent to close at P17.4 billion by yearend.

URC, the maker of V-Cut potato chips and C2 iced tea, said sales for the branded consumer foods group, excluding packaging, grew by 2 percent to P108.4 billion last year.

READ: URC brands among most favored in PH

The international branded food segment delivered a 2-percent rise in revenues to P32.8 billion due to improved performance in Vietnam and Malaysia.

The agro-industrial and commodities group also saw sales grow by 16 percent to P48.8 billion as all three businesses within the group maintained double-digit growth amid “higher volumes, favorable sugar prices and continued growth of pet food.”—Meg J. Adonis