D&L profit in 1st half down by 7.5%

The delayed enactment of the 2019 national budget, the protracted US-China trade war and a sluggish consumer sentiment dragged the first semester net profit of food and chemical input manufacturer D&L Industries down by 7.5 percent year-on-year to P1.41 billion.

D&L president Alvin Lao said in a recent briefing that D&L—which makes food ingredients, specialty plastics and chemicals used by many consumer firms—was hopeful demand would stabilize in the second semester.

Despite easing inflation, the operating environment remained challenging for D&L due to negative consumer sentiment and the delayed passage of the national budget, which translated to lower factory output. Net sales fell by 17 percent in the first semester. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA