Andrew Tan-controlled liquor manufacturer Emperador Inc. posted a 27.4 percent drop in attributable profit at P6.32 billion last year from P8.71 billion in 2023.
A copy of the company’s briefing materials for analysts disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday showed that the company attributed the decline to “lower revenues coupled with continued investment in the business.”
Its topline fell by 6.1 percent to P61.6 billion from P65.6 billion.
The company reported a 9 percent decline in its brandy revenue to P36.39 billion from P39.99 billion, due to weak demand as consumers shifted to bottom-shelf products.
The whisky business’ revenue was also 1.6 percent lower at P25.26 billion from P25.67 billion.
Emperador attributed the drop in revenues to “weakness in consumer demand given economic challenges leading to tighter wallets.”
The company said gross profit was down 11.2 percent to P18.78 billion from P21.15 billion.
Emperador, meanwhile, is optimistic about its brandy business going into the rest of the year, saying it expects higher margins compared to last year.
This is amid a 51.2-percent decline in reported profit of the business to P1.81 billion from P3.71 billion. Net profit margin was at 4.97 percent compared with the prior year’s 9.28 percent.
Emperador said it is working to target the low-priced segment of the market while still pursuing its “premiumization strategy.”
The company, however, noted a challenging whisky market especially with the new trade policies from the United States. The bottomline for the whisky business dropped 9.6 percent to P4.51 billion from P4.99 billion.
Emperador said it will keep a close eye on developments on US tariffs and its effect on global market dynamics.
The company has yet to release its financial statement for 2024.
