Vitarich profit soared 25% to P47.6M in Q1

Agribusiness pioneer Vitarich Corp. posted record gains in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, effectively sustaining its growth momentum in the last few years while gearing up for expansion in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The company turned in its best year-end performance in recent time and laid the groundwork for its planned expansion initiative by turning in a robust performance in 2016.

The company registered a net income of P47.6 million in the first quarter, a hefty 25.26 percent increase from the company’s net income of P38 million a year ago.

This is also a huge 172 percent jump from the company’s full-year net income of P17.5 million in 2016.

Vitarich also registered gross profits of P195 million in the same three-month period, 26.38 percent higher than the gross profits of P154.3 million in the same quarter the previous year.

Consolidated sale of goods was recorded at P1.56 billion for the first three months of 2017, a substantial 33.33 percent leap from the P1.17-billion total the group posted in the first quarter of 2016.

Vitarich ended the year with a 12-month net income of P17.5 million, a huge 143.7 percent increase from its P7.18-million net income in 2015.

The company and its subsidiaries also registered gross profits of P632.8 million for 2016, a 25 percent increase from the P507-million gross profits the previous year.

The increase in gross profits was mainly due to higher sales volume, better selling prices of foods and farm products, improved farm efficiencies, enhanced feed production, and lower cost of raw materials.

The group also registered consolidated sale of goods of P5.1 billion in 2016, 48 percent higher than the P3.45 billion the group posted in 2015. This increase was due to the company’s operational expansion, intensive marketing activities, improved customer service, and enhanced operational partnerships.

“Vitarich’s record performance in 2016 effectively fuels the company’s growth plans for the coming year and beyond,” accordVitarich Chief Executive Officer and President Ricardo Manuel Sarmiento.

The company, he said, is gearing up for expansion in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to meet the increased demand for food and animal feed across the country.

Sarmiento noted that Vitarich will soon be opening a new animal feed mill in Davao which will be operational by July 2017 that will effectively more than double Vitarich’s animal feed production capacity.

“We will also double the capacity of our Davao dressing plant from 471,000 heads to 942,000 heads per month,” Sarmiento added.

In the Visayas, the company is in the process of expanding and automating its Iloilo feed mill, effectively doubling its capacity to produce animal feed, from an average of 93,600 of 50-kilogram (kg) bags per month in 2016 to around 187,200 of 50-kg bags a month in 2017.

In Luzon, Vitarich’s toll partners have expanded as well, doubling the company’s production capacity by 67 percent for animal feeds and 40 percent for aqua feeds.

In line with its expansion plans, Vitarich is looking for partners and end-customers with the same mindset to expand the company’s sales and distribution network.

“We are looking for more contract growers in the Visayas area as well as more chicken breeders and hog breeder farms in Luzon to meet the increased demand for food products,” he said.

“We have also set in motion a program to enhance our Cooks brand by introducing new quality products that are designed to penetrate new market segments and a new packaging that underscores the brand’s improved quality,” Sarmiento adds.

The developments in the last 15 months clearly show Vitarich’s renewed growth trajectory. Despite the turbulent external environment and the increasingly stiff competition in the market, Vitarich has been able to demonstrate its agility and tenacity to maintain and grow its market share.