D&L Industries Inc. expects this year’s net profit to surpass last year’s P2.3 billion after it reported positive profit in the first nine month of 2024.
D&L president and chief executive Alvin Lao said with P1.8-billion net income booked in the first nine months, it needs to earn P520 million to match 2023’s profit.
“We did P493 million in the third quarter. Fourth quarter should be better, especially for the food segment because it’s the ‘ber’ months [Christmas season]. So we should see 2024 better than last year,” he said.
D&L’s recurring income from January to September grew 1 percent year-on-year to P1.8 billion.
Meanwhile, earnings stood at P493 million in the third quarter, down 11 percent from a year ago largely due to higher cost base resulting from newly-commissioned lines inside the firm’s new Batangas plant.
Lao noted, however, the new plant nearly achieved break-even level despite the higher costs for the quarter.
“What we are seeing now is the natural cycle of operating a new plant. As we further ramp up operations, cost base will increase but this should be offset by the new business that we expect to come in,” said Lao.
He said strong export sales continued to drive overall business amid the generally cautious consumer sentiment in the domestic market.
He said export is outpacing domestic performance, with overseas sales up 38 percent versus last year’s level with total sales reaching P9.2 billion.
Domestic sales grew 12 percent year-on-year.
“At current export growth levels, we believe we are still barely scratching the surface. We expect exports to continue to increase its relevance to the overall business. From this perspective, our Batangas plant becomes more strategic as it allows us to go after exports more aggressively,” Lao said.
