Del Monte Q3 net profit more than doubles to US$6.7m on higher sales

DEL Monte Pacific more than doubled its net profit to US$6.7 million for the third quarter ended Jan 31, 2020, from US$2.6 million a year ago.

The strong performance was underpinned by higher retail sales, both in general trade and modern trade channels, the mainboard-listed food and beverage firm said on Wednesday.

The company also saw significant market share improvements across canned and carton juices, and packaged fruit.

Earnings per share was 0.09 US cent for the quarter versus loss per share of 0.12 cent a year ago.

Revenue rose 5 per cent to US$555.3 million from US$528.7 million a year ago due to improved sales across all key markets.

No dividend was declared for the quarter, unchanged from a year ago.

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"The coronavirus epidemic did not have any material impact on Del Monte's results for the third quarter," the dual-listed company said. Del Monte shares are also listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

"In February, the group experienced softer demand and some logistics hurdles in China, but has the flexibility to allocate products to other markets and will continue to expand e-commerce sales," it added.

Sales in China account for about 3 per cent of Del Monte's sales.

Del Monte shares closed down 0.3 Singapore cent or 2.7 per cent to 10.8 cents on Wednesday.