Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker and owned by the Gokongwei Group, said Wednesday net income attributable to equity holders of the parent decreased 35 percent in the first quarter of the year to P1.98 billion from P3.03 billion a year ago due to foreign exchange losses.
URC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange first-quarter sales stood at P33.45 billion, slightly higher than P33.3 billion year-on-year, despite the enhanced community quarantine in the country and in other nations where the company operates.
The food manufacturing said the strong start during the first two months of the 2020 helped cushion the operational disruptions caused by the sudden ECQ.
“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,” URC president and chief executive Irwin Lee said.
“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,” he said.
“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,” Lee added.
Sales of branded consumer foods to both domestic and international markets contributed P25.7 billion to total revenues.
Domestic revenues increased rose three percent to P15.692 billion, while operating income grew 17 percent from last year’s, as sales from snack foods and noodles drove growth in the quarter. Jenniffer B. Austria
International revenues, meanwhile, declined two percent on a constant currency basis and by eighth in peso terms to P9.7 billion.
Operating income fell 26 percent as a result of weakness in Indochina and the negative impact of foreign exchange devaluations in international currencies.
Sales of agro-industrial and commodities business climbed nine percent to P7.8 billion while operating income dropped four percent.