Batangas Plant Boosts D&L Earnings by 6 Percent in H1

D&L Industries Inc. said continuing gains from its Batangas manufacturing, plant lifted the company’s earnings for the first semester by 6 percent to P1.4 billion, despite higher coconut oil prices.  Alvin Lao, D&L president and chief executive officer, in an online briefing Tuesday this week noted that higher coconut oil prices dampened the rise in income in the first six months this year, due to lower contribution from their high-margin business that covers coconut oil-based food, personal hygiene, and home care segments. 
About less than half of the earnings during the six-month period came from Chemrez group, about 30 percent from specialty plastics, 18 percent from food ingredients and 6 percent from consumer products ODM (original design manufacturer), or those products that the company sells to the public.
, 
“With coconut oil prices appearing overstretched, the second half is expected to benefit from more stable and potentially lower prices, supporting a stronger earnings performance compared to the first half. We maintain our outlook for double-digit net income growth for the year,” Lao said. 
On the issue of the US tariffs, he said it will not have much impact on the company’s exports since the US market accounts for only 3 percent of revenues.  Majority of products sold to the US are valued “for their distinct technical and functional attributes” and, thus, demand is seen to be sustained.  A bigger portion of the company’s export earnings representing 25 percent come from its other export markets such as the Asia Pacific region, like China, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Europe, Latin America and Africa.