San Miguel Q1 net surges by 122% to P13.5B

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp.’s first quarter net profit surged by 122 percent year-on-year to P13.5 billion on the back of robust food, beverage and packaging businesses and higher revenue from power and infrastructure units.

It also gained from improved operating efficiencies that boosted margins for oil refining unit Petron Corp. amidst the slump in oil prices.

The P13.5-billion profit included equity attributed to minority interest.

SMC’s group-wide operating income rose by 38 percent to P22.82 billion for the first quarter from year-ago.

Beer unit San Miguel Brewery reported a 23-percent growth in first quarter net profit to P4 billion while hard liquor arm Ginebra San Miguel posted a 288-percent improvement in profit to P54 million.

Food unit San Miguel Purefoods Co. Inc. posted a 34-percent growth in three-month net profit to P1.22 billion, driven by the performance of its feeds, poultry and branded value-added businesses.

Petron’s net profit jumped to P2.76 billion from only P257 million in the previous year.

Its packaging unit posted a three-month operating income of P597 million, up by 25 percent while power unit SMC Global Power posted 7 percent growth in operating income.

Infrastructure arm San Miguel Holdings posted a first-quarter operating income of P2.43 billion, up by 16 percent year-on-year.