Blue chip firms adapt, survive
As the pandemic continues to affect our everyday lives, we keep in mind that this is only temporary
Three of the nation’s biggest companies have to innovate like never before to cushion the impact of the pandemic on their bottom line.
San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. (SMFB) registered consolidated revenues of P122.82 billion for the first half or 19 percent lower than the same period last year as the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic weighed on its volume performance in the second quarter, especially for its beer and spirits divisions.
“As the pandemic continues to affect our everyday lives, we keep in mind that this is only temporary. We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure food sufficiency and help and provide opportunities to the most vulnerable communities,” SMFB president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang said.
“We continue to build long-term resilience across SMFB. At the same time, we are mindful of the changes necessary to help us navigate through the crisis in the short-term. All told, we believe that SMFB is in a position to emerge stronger and better than it was before,” Ang confidently stated.
The effect of the restrictions that accompanied the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was most pronounced from mid-March to mid-May. During the period, liquor bans were imposed across key cities, there were closures of food service and retail establishments, as well as limitations on movement and delivery of goods due to checkpoints.
MPIC suffers 38% fall
Magnate Manuel Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) also reported a 33 percent slip in core net income to P5.3 billion in the first half, down 38 percent from P8.7 billion a year ago.
The robustness of our operations, even in the depths of this crisis, reflects a decade and more of sustained capital investment.
“The quarantine reduced toll road traffic, mandated the suspension of rail services, and decreased commercial and industrial demand for water and power resulting in a decrease in contribution from operations of 31 percent,” the company said in a statement.
“The robustness of our operations, even in the depths of this crisis, reflects a decade and more of sustained capital investment that had been delivering continued expansion in our overall customer coverage up until the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the government imposed quarantines to save lives,” MPIC president and chief executive officer Jose Ma. Lim noted.
“Judicious management of our cash and liquidity position remains a key priority while helping to fund construction of important infrastructure projects that we were already embarked on. MPIC itself is well funded due to the P30.1 billion sell down of our interest in our hospitals business at the end of 2019 and the sale earlier this year of a 19.2 percent interest in our LRT1 project for P3 billion,” he added.
69% lower income for SMIC
SM Investments Corp (SMIC), for its part, reported a consolidated net income of P7.1 billion in January to June from P23 billion the previous year, lower by 69 percent.
Consolidated revenues decreased 21 percent to P185.5 billion in the first half from P233.7 billion in the same period last year.
“Our half year financial results are within our overall expectations, given the context of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak which had a greater impact in the second quarter,” SMIC president and chief executive officer Frederic DyBuncio said.
The results also reflected the group’s continued financial prudence and conservative balance sheet after our banks made substantial provisions for potential customer delinquencies,” DyBuncio noted.