Philippines: San Miguel Brewery's net profit rises 12% in Q1

San Miguel, the Philippines' largest company by sales, said on May 10 its net income grew by only 2% in the first quarter, dampened by the strong dollar.

Excluding foreign exchange losses, net income jumped by 62% to 14.8 billion pesos ($296 million), according to a statement.

The company, known for its eponymous beer, accumulated debt in recent years to bankroll its diversification into more capital-intensive industries like power generation, oil refinery and retailing, infrastructure, among others. As of end-2016, around 40% of the company's debt is in foreign currency.

The company's operating income increased 21% to 27.5 billion pesos while revenues rose 23% to 195.8 billion pesos.

San Miguel Brewery's net profit rose 12% to 4.5 billion pesos as revenues went up by 9%. Liquor unit Ginebra San Miguel's net income doubled to 129 million pesos after sales volume surged by 32%.

San Miguel Pure Foods's net income climbed 20% to 1.5 billion pesos as prices of poultry products rose.

Oil refiner Petron doubled its net income to 5.6 billion pesos, as revenues surged by 38% on higher fuel retail sales and volume of petrochemical exports.

San Miguel did not disclose net profit for its infrastructure, power, and packaging units. It did say, however, that operating income at its infrastructure arm improved by 6% to 2.6 billion pesos while that of its packaging business grew by 6% to 632 million pesos. Operating income at its power unit slipped to 6.0 billion pesos.