LBC turned to net loss in H1 on forex woes

Logistics giant LBC Express Holdings Inc. swung to a net loss in the first semester despite higher operating income as it absorbed foreign exchange losses.

LBC’s financial filing on Friday showed it recorded a net loss of P190.95 million from a net income of P82.12 million a year ago.

READ: LBC leverages AI to ramp up services

It noted that further losses were offset by an improvement in gross profit, which inched up by 3 percent to P1.53 billion on “improved efficiencies and cost rationalization.”

The listed firm’s service revenues were down 3 percent to P7.13 billion due to a decline in the retail segment. LBC’s domestic corporate segment, however, gained by 11 percent.

Operating income, meanwhile, rose by 14 percent to P331.1 million.

‘Controlling what we can’

According to LBC, it underwent an “enterprise-wide” restructuring in its operations to better manage costs.

Service expenses were down by 4 percent to P5.6 billion on lower delivery, remittance, manpower, rent and depreciation costs.

LBC noted it had boosted its capacity for pickup services of parcels and packages via its website and mobile app after decreasing its brick-and-mortar stores.

”It has been another challenging year operationally, and issues beyond our control such as the global supply chain and global logistics cost hikes have proven to be testing our resiliency,” LBC chief financial officer Enrique Rey Jr. said in a separate statement.

“But we focused on controlling what we can, and we are relentless in pursuing our targets,” Rey added.

READ: LBC buys Taiwanese affiliate to boost global revenues

LBC, whose services include money remittance, has over 1,500 branches in the Philippines and at least 200 hubs and warehouses in around 30 countries.

It recently started offering cash-on-delivery services for businesses to combat so-called bogus buyers who fail to pay for their purchased products even if these have already been delivered.

LBC also offers cash-on-pickup services for both sellers and buyers. This allows payment upon package pickup in LBC branches to prevent scams.

It is likewise riding on the e-commerce boom via its mobile app, where its clients can book deliveries and track the real-time status of their deliveries.