UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. (URC) said profit in the first quarter reached P2.1 billion, down 32 percent from P3.09 billion in the same period in 2019.
Sales were flat at P33.5 billion from the last year’s P33.37 billion.
URC said operating income stood at P4 billion, up 0.4 percent. Operating profit margin was at 11.9 percent.
The company said “a strong start in January and February helped cushion against the operational disruptions caused by the sudden enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implemented in Luzon in mid-March, on top of the continuing new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact in other countries where URC operates.”
In the company’s branded consumer foods (BCF), sales of domestic and international branded consumer foods hit P25.7 billion with the domestic revenues up 3 percent, sales from snack foods and doodles drove growth for the quarter.
“The international revenues declined by 2 percent on a constant currency basis and by 8 percent in peso terms to P9.7 billion,” the company said, as a result of weakness in Indochina and the negative impact of foreign exchange devaluations in international currencies.
The agro-industrial and commodities (AIC) business meanwhile saw sales hit P7.8 billion, up 9 percent.
“The commodities foods group revenue grew strongly by 23 percent, with sugar and renewables (SURE) growing 29 percent versus last year and flour growing 5 percent versus the same period last year,” URC said.
The company said the commodities’ growth however was offset by agro-industrial group’s 9 percent sales drop due to a previously announced restructuring and lower selling prices in hogs.
“We started 2020 well, continuing our strong results in 2019 with good sales and profit growth in many of our divisions and geographies. However, as we closed the first quarter in March, our growth momentum was impacted by COVID-19 related disruptions,” said Irwin Lee, URC president.
“We have made immediate steps to adjust to this crisis — protecting our employees’ safety and health, maintaining essential food and drinks supply to the public, and providing additional resources to communities and societies in need. We are also now evolving our operating model to adapt to the ‘new’ normal. We are fortunate to be in the food industry and in a better situation than other companies amidst this crisis. With a strong balance sheet and healthy cash position, we can weather these short-term challenges and emerge even stronger,” he added
URC closed the period with a net cash of P20 billion. Gearing ratio stood at 0.42x.
