Monde Nissin Corp., the leading food producer behind “Lucky Me!” instant noodles, reported Wednesday that net income in the first half increased by 17.4 percent to P4.1 billion despite a substantial non-cash accounting loss booked in the second quarter.
Net profit in the second quarter dropped 61 percent to P610 million due to an accounting loss related to the fair value of the Meat Alternative guarantee asset.
Consolidated revenue for the period rose 3.1 percent to P40.1 billion, with a 4.2 percent increase in the second quarter.
Gross profit in the first half surged 19.0 percent to P13.9 billion, driven by the 464 basis point year-on-year increase in gross margins to 34.7 percent. The increase was primarily attributed to improved gross margins in the APAC Branded Food and Beverage sector, which rose by 576 basis points due to lower commodity costs and favorable pricing.
Gross margin in the second quarter improved by 373 basis points to 34.0 percent.
“During the second quarter, APAC BFB saw modest topline growth along with continued expansion in gross margin and core net income year-on-year. Our APAC BFB gross margins have significantly rebounded from last year’s levels,” said Henry Soesanto, Monde Nissin chief executive officer.
“While we anticipate that further sequential gains will be limited, we expect to see continued year-on-year improvement in Q3. For our Meat Alternative business, we observed gradual improvement in gross margin, which we aim to sustain and enhance as the year progresses. Our focus remains on optimizing costs and achieving efficiencies, with the goal of maintaining EBITDA neutrality or better for the year,” he added.
Core net income attributable to shareholders in the first half grew 45.5 percent to P5.1 billion.
The APAC BFB segment saw net sales growing 3.9 percent to P33.3 billion in the first half on account of higher volume in noodles and other categories. Domestic sales grew 4.0 percent in the first half.
Gross profit in the APAC BFB segment increased 22.8 percent to P12.5 billion in the first half due to better margins.
The Meat Alternative segment faced a decline, with revenue dropping 5.2 percent in the first half. Gross profit for this segment fell 5.6 percent to P1.5 billion as gross margin declined by 115 basis points year-on-year to 21.5 percent in the first half. The gross margins were, however, better by 146 basis points at 23.1 percent in the second quarter due to lower raw materials and utilities costs.
