URC delivered P12.5-B income in 2024
Universal Robina Corp. (urc) saw a 2 percent decline in 2024 earnings to P12.5 billion in the absence of foreign exchange gains that had jacked up its bottom line in the previous year.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, the Gokongwei-led snack food maker said its core net income, which excludes nonrecurring gains, likewise slipped by 3 percent to P12.2 billion.
Revenues posted a modest 3-percent growth to P161.9 billion on volume growth across all business segments.
According to URC, its flat bottom line was due to a higher base in 2023.
Sales at the branded consumer foods (BCF) group ended at P109.5 billion, representing a 2-percent growth as the impact of macroeconomic challenges offset higher volumes.
The international BCF segment delivered sales of P34.8 billion, up by 8 percent, as all international units saw “strong volume and value growth despite generally tepid consumer sentiment seen across Southeast Asia.”
The agro-industrial and commodities group, meanwhile, ended the year with P51.3 billion in sales, up by 5 percent, on higher volumes across most of its segments.
“We expect further improvements in URC’s growth momentum going forward as we continue to provide new product innovations and better value efforts to delight our customers and consumers with good food choices,” URC president and CEO Irwin Lee said.
URC, the maker of C2 green tea and V-cut potato chips, is set to exit China this year amid plans to focus on other Asian markets.
The company said this would allow it to “redeploy resources to higher-growth markets across the region,” although it did not specify its target countries.
Last June, several of URC’s China entities ceased operations, resulting in a P580-million net loss for URC China in the first half of 2024.
The company also opened a new flour mill in Quezon province in December 2024, boosting its daily production capacity to 3,500 metric tons from 2,180 MT previously.
In opening the P5.4-billion facility, Lee said they were seeing “an ever-growing demand” for URC products, with the flour mill expected to help maintain quality.
