San Miguel swings to loss in first half

Rappler.com

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Foreign exchange losses weigh on the diversified conglomerate's overall performance

MANILA, Philippines – Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. swung to net loss of P2.4 billion in the first half of 2013 due to foreign exchange losses.

San Miguel did not provide a comparative figure in its statement Monday, August 12 but a previous statement showed it had a net income of P14.1 billion in the first half of 2012.

San Miguel said the strengthening of the US dollar against the peso resulted in foreign exchange losses of P10.2 billion, weighing on the company’s overall performance.

“Forex losses mask the solid performance we had in our businesses. But we remain bullish about our underlying performance, which we attribute to a series of competitive advantages that should help us moving forward,” noted company chairman and CEO Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr.

Cojuangco said gains from the recent sale of shares in power distributor Manila Electric Co. and growth of San Miguel’s new and core businesses will mitigate the effects of currency fluctuations.

In January to June, San Miguel’s revenues grew 9% year-on-year to 357.5 billion, driven by units San Miguel Pure Foods and Petron. Petron’s Malaysian operations were fully consolidated into the oil retailer’s second-quarter financial results.

“Overall, the numbers reflect the progress we are making, along with the areas where we need to work harder,” Cojuangco said.

Here are the other highlights of the San Miguel group’s first-half results:

  • San Miguel’s beer unit posted P36.8 billion revenues, the same as last year’s, while the liquor subsidiary registered a 12% drop in sales to P6 billion, following an increase in excise taxes
  • Revenues of San Miguel Pure Foods rose 4% to P47.1 billion
  • Sales of the packaging business declined 3% to P11.5 billion
  • Power generation unit SMC Global Power’s off-take volume for the first semester reached 8,407 gigawatt hours, marginally higher than last year’s

 – Rappler.com

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