AgriNurture profits, sales up in Q1

Agri-entrepreneur Antonio Tiu-led AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) saw its bottom line and sales jump in the first quarter of 2021 despite a challenging business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement on Friday, ANI said it booked a net profit of P40 million during the January to March period, up 26% from P31.7 million recorded in the same period last year on the back of strong sales of its food and beverage products.

The company’s consolidated sales of goods and services amounted to more than P1.2 billion during the period, up 45% over the P827-million posted a year earlier.

ANI said its Philippine operations contributed 44% while sales from foreign operations accounted for 56% of consolidated sales.

By business segment, ANI’s export sales amounted to P438.82 million, up 10% year-on-year.

The increase was due to the stable selling prices of bananas and coco products in the international market, constant supply of raw materials, and increased customer demand especially in the Chinese and US markets, the company said.

"The slight increase was due to logistical challenges in China because of the pandemic but sales increased significantly (both volumes and sales price) after the Chinese government lifted the lockdown. Also, sales for coco juice went up due to increasing demand in the United States of America during the period," it added.

ANI said its sales increased significantly especially during the start of the enhanced community quarantine, which complemented the launch of its e-commerce platform through its ANI Express website where customers can order fresh produce, canned beverages, rice, and other essential goods for delivery to customers.

Moving forward, ANI is also launching new products such as plant-based meat fit bites, non-dairy coconut ice cream, and healthy drinks in cans for local and export distribution which is expected to start to record double-digit growth for the rest of the coming quarters. — DVM, GMA News