Canned food company Century Pacific Food Inc. said net income grew 46 percent in the first half to P1.36 billion from a year ago, buoyed by robust demand for branded food products.
Century Pacific said net income in the second quarter reached P725 million, up 46 percent from a year earlier and by 14 percent from the first quarter. Revenues grew 15 percent to P13 billion in the first half.
“Top line growth across our 3ms—marine, meat and milk—continues to be driven almost completely by increases in volume. These can be attributed to our various sales and marketing campaigns, plus a strong local economy boosted by election spending,” said CNPF chief finance officer Oscar Pobre.
“However, we also faced some challenges due to the El Niño weather disturbance and slowness in certain export markets,” Pobre said.
Revenue growth through modern trade outperformed as retailers pursued aggressive expansion. Globally, a fast rising trend towards healthy and organic coconut products offsett sales weakness in private-label tuna.
CNPF also saw profitability improve, thanks to successful buying strategies, subdued input costs and increased revenue contribution from higher margin segments.
Gross profit margins grew to 30 percent from 26 percent the year before, while net income margins increased to 10 percent from 8 percent in 2015.
The company behind household names Century Tuna, Argentina Corned Beef, 555 Sardines, Angel Milk and Birch Tree continued its program of building and investing in brands, including the staging in the first half of the tenth cycle of its nationwide “Century Tuna Superbods” event.
Century Pacific was also named Asia’s “Marketing Company of the Year” by the Asia Marketing Federation, one of Asia’s foremost governing bodies in marketing.