D&L Q1 income exceeds expectations

MANILA, Philippines — Listed food ingredients and chemicals manufacturer D&L Industries Inc. grew its earnings by 12 percent in the first quarter to P780 million, the highest income the company has achieved in three years despite an Omicron surge in January and skyrocketing commodity prices.

D&L said the better-than-expected earnings came mainly from the strong performance of its Oleochemicals division and exports, which more than offset the drag from the Omicron surge.

Sales jumped by 43 percent to P9.99 billion.

“Considering the surprise turn of events in the early part of the year such as the Omicron surge and Russia-Ukraine conflict, our first quarter 2022 results show that momentum is definitely there with the easing of restrictions and opening up of businesses,” D&L president and CEO Alvin Lao said.

“Barring another unforeseen event, simply annualizing our first quarter 2022 earnings will yield P3.1 billion, which is already at par with our record net income booked in 2018,” he said.

With a lower COVID alert level in place and continued decline in new cases in the country, the company sees a continued build up in momentum and renewed business optimism for further recovery.

“In the near-term, demand will likely be defined by two opposing forces - continued economic reopening on one hand, and generally higher prices of basic commodities on the other,” Lao said.

D&L is also staying committed to its Batangas expansion which is set to start commercial operations by January next year.

Total capex for the project is expected at P9.1 billion, which will enable the company to develop more high value-added coconut-based products and penetrate new international markets.