Del Monte recovers from loss with US$0.7m profit in Q1

Its Philippine sales beat its US sales.

Del Monte Pacific Limited (Del Monte) recovers from its $9.4m (US$7m) loss last year with a $0.9m (US$0.7m) profit in Q1.

According to its financial statement, revenue grew 1.4% from $628.5m (US$467.4m) to $637m (US$473.8m), thanks to better performance of its S&W products in Asia and the Middle East. This was offset by lower sales in the US.

Del Monte's US subsidiary contributed 71%, or $452.6m (US$336.5m). However, it declined 4% because of reduced sales in private label and regional brands in foodservice as a result of competitive pricing.

According to Del Monte, "the first quarter is generally the least profitable quarter for DMFI."

This was offset by higher sales of Del Monte's Philippine subsidiary, with sales up 14% YoY to $176.7m (US$131.4m). This was driven by sales in the Philippines and exports.

"Sales in the Philippines, the largest market of DMPI, were up in peso terms driven by expanded penetration and increased consumption of packaged pineapple fruit following improvement in supply, coupled with higher sales of culinary products," Del Monte said.

"Sales of the S&W business, the fastest growing business of DMPI in Asia and the Middle East, continued its strong performance achieving double digit growth, mainly due to strong sales of fresh pineapple on the back of improved supply and expansion into Turkey, a new market for packaged products," the company added.