Universal Robina emerges from lockdowns with double-digit profit gain

MANILA, Philippines — Listed snack-maker Universal Robina Corp. emerged as among the few outliers last year, boosting profits against the headwinds brought by the pandemic on businesses.

The Gokongwei-led company netted P11.6 billion for all of 2020, up 15% year-on-year, the firm disclosed to the stock exchange on Tuesday. 

Investors welcomed the report. As of 11:46 a.m., shares in Universal Robina were trading up 3.33% to P133.50 each, outperforming the main index's gains.

However, there was little information on what accounted for the sterling financial performance, with the company only saying that gains came from “growth in operating income, lower debt and interest expenses, and lower foreign exchange losses.”

Operating income went up 7% annually to P16 billion “driven by better cost management and favorable input prices.” Indeed, the peso also strengthened against the dollar last year which meant import costs for raw materials that may be needed for production were also lower. 

However, when broken down further, Universal Robina reported rather dismal sales that showed the firm was not left unscathed by the unprecedented health crisis.

Net sales inched down 1% year-on-year to P133.1 billion. Under this, sales of branded consumer foods such as Jack ‘N Jill were flat at home, while contracting a bigger 5% in international markets like Indonesia and Australia. Overall, this segment generated P103.6 billion last year.

As far as the company’s report would go, Universal Robina only increased sales of agro-industrial and commodities by 7% year-on-year to P29.6 billion.

Net debt amounted to P22.1 billion, close to previous year’s levels, financial results also showed.

Amid tough times, the snack maker claimed to have also “gained significant market share and performed ahead of competition” last year, without citing data. Over the past few years, Universal Robina’s products like Great Taste had come under intense competition from brands that diversified to coffee like Kopiko.

“The best response to the challenges we face with this crisis is to push forward, not to pull back,” Irwin Lee, president and chief executive, was quoted as saying in the statement. 

“Consumption of our products is not likely to dissipate; in fact, the relevance of our categories in consumers’ lives potentially increases as we adjust to changing consumer and shopper trends,” Lee said.

Request for further comment has gone unanswered as of this posting.