D&L confident of hitting 10% income growth target for 2025

An official of publicly-listed D&L Industries Inc. expressed confidence that the company will achieve its 10 percent income growth target this year after posting an 8 percent increase in the first nine months, driven by strong volume expansion.

In a media briefing last week, D&L Industries president and chief executive officer Alvin Lao said the company’s volume grew by 11 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, allowing it to post P1.95 billion in income despite soaring coconut oil prices.

He noted that the average price of coconut oil — the company’s key raw material — jumped 78 percent to date, reaching an all-time high of almost USD3,000 per metric ton in the third quarter alone, which affected the firm’s overall blended margins.

“While we cannot control commodity price movements, we can control how we navigate these challenges and where we direct our focus and resources,” Lao said. “In this volatile environment, we continue to stay true to our core — investing in R&D and innovation. These investments will enable us to develop higher-value, more technical, and differentiated solutions for our customers, helping insulate the business from macroeconomic volatility.”

Lao said the company remains close to its full-year growth goal. “We’re not that far away from the 10 percent target and we’re going to try our best to hit that,” he said, though he noted that results would still depend on domestic economic performance and movements in coconut oil prices.

He added that D&L’s export business performed strongly, with revenues up 20 percent to USD11 billion as of end-September, while profit from exports rose by 22 percent — significantly higher than the 8 percent growth recorded in domestic operations.

Lao declined to specify target foreign markets but said the company exports to most regions, including North America, the United States, Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and even Africa.

“For the rest of the year, we remain cautiously optimistic,” Lao said. “While some customers continue to face pressure from elevated input costs, improving macro fundamentals — such as easing inflation and interest rates — should help spur economic activity.”