Chemical manufacturer D and L Industries Inc. reported income in the first six months rising 6 percent to P1.31 billion this year from last year’s P1.24 billion on the back of its Batangas plant posting net gains in the second quarter.
“The second quarter of this year marks the turning point in our Batangas operations as it booked a quarterly profit for the first time since we started commercial operations in July 2023. As we further ramp up operations and onboard new customers, we see a gradually increasing earnings contribution from this new plant over time,” company president and CEO Alvin Lao said.
“For this year, we are keeping our guidance at low double-digit growth in earnings. At the same time, we continue to monitor macro developments that may potentially dampen business sentiment such as the higher-for-longer interest rates, lingering effects of inflation, depreciating peso and even the potential hard landing or recession in the US,” Lao said.
The Batangas plant’s turning profitable was ahead of the two-year period of operations based on the performance of older plants the company has built over the years.
The new plant booked a net profit of P149 million for the quarter, representing a quarter-on-quarter improvement in operations, from peak loss of P315 million in the first quarter to almost breaking even.
To date, the new plant has fulfilled several orders for both local and export customers. Several audit and certification processes are ongoing in order to on-board more customers.
Volumes of high margin specialty products, the key earnings driver of the company, were up for the fourth consecutive quarter, the company said.
The additional capacity from the Batangas plant, geared towards the development and manufacturing of higher value-added products, is helping spur the growth in the segment, it said.
The food ingredients division performed well in the second quarter with earnings growing 30 percent year-on-year, bringing first-half earnings growth 27 percent higher despite incremental expenses associated with the Batangas plant.
