AgriNurture profit surges to P390 million

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture trading firm AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) saw its nine-month income surge three-fold to P390 million from P107 million despite lower revenues.

ANI said consolidated sales of goods and services decreased by 12 percent to P3 billion while gross profit went down 16 percent to P493 million.

Local distribution sales pushed ANI’s income up by 118 percent to P224 million with significant improvements in the sale of rice, fresh fruits, and vegetables during the start of the enhanced community quarantine in March.

ANI also launched its own e-commerce platform through its website and mobile application where customers can order fresh produce, canned beverages, rice and other essential goods for delivery to customers without contact.

Local operations contributed more than half at 58 percent of the consolidated sales while foreign operations accounted for the remaining 42 percent.

The group’s export sales, however, slightly declined to P1.49 billion brought about by the logistic restrictions in China due to the pandemic.

But, overall sales started to increase after the Chinese government lifted the lockdown in May. Sales of coconut water and sparkling juices continue to increase due to the demand in the US during the period.

Meanwhile, retail and franchising sales declined by 76 percent to P18 million due to the closure of stores located in malls brought about by the pandemic.

ANI said it would continuously improve the quality of products sold online and open more stores despite the current situation.

Foreign trading operations likewise declined to P1.27 billion due to decrease in sales of residential and commercial units since the lockdown in China started but sales showed a recovery for both merchandising and real estate businesses especially when the lockdown was lifted by the Chinese government.

The company’s cost of sales and services amounted to P2.51 billion, down 12 percent from P2.84 billion in 2019.

Meanwhile, operating expenses amounted to P337 million from P404 million after its Hong Kong and China subsidiary operations were shut down since the start of total lockdown.

ANI is involved in various agro-commercial businesses focusing on trading of grains and fresh produce in the Philippines and export markets.

It supplies other home-grown fruits such as banana, pineapple, mango, processed fruits such as frozen fruits and coconut water to Hong Kong, China, Australia and Europe among others.