Del Monte ramping up Phl pineapple production

MANILA, Philippines - Del Monte Pacific Ltd. plans to boost its pineapple production in the Philippines to at least one million metric tons in the next five years from this year’s target of 750,000 MT.

“We continue to expand our production facility. We will do 750,000 MT (of pineapple),”  said DMPL chief operating officer Luis Alejandro during the  listing of the company’s dollar-denominated preferred shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday.

Pineapple production at DMPL’s Cagayan de Oro plantation has grown from 23,000 MT to 450,000 MT.

At an annual growth of 10 percent, production is estimated to reach 1.12 million MT by 2021. Last year, the plant produced at least 600,000 MT of pineapple.

The company also plans to grow its operations in the US and in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in other continents such as Latin America.

At present, the US accounts for 80 percent of DMPL’s earnings while Asia and the rest account for 20 percent.

DMPL has allotted $70 million for capital expenditures for its fiscal year ending April 2017.

The company successfully raised $200 million from a share issuance, the country’s first dollar-denominated preferred shares offering.

According to DMPL, the offering “was oversubscribed by 33 percent with a total volume of 20 million Series A-1 Preference shares.

The company tapped BDO Capital and Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp. as joint lead underwriters. BDO Capital also acted as sole issue manager.

The initial tranche is part of DMPL’s shelf registration program amounting to up to $360 million.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to refinance the $350 million bridge loan facility extended by BDO.