D&L says exports business to account for 50% of revenues

Food ingredients and chemicals manufacturer D&L Industries Inc. on Thursday said it is projecting that its exports business will account for 50% of its revenues in the medium term despite the challenging business environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, D&L reported that its exports sales account for 33% of its total revenues of P13.9 billion in the first half of 2021, higher than the full-year 2019 or pre-pandemic level of 24%.

With this, the company said its dollar inflow has already overtaken the dollar value of its imported raw materials.

It added that from a net importer since practically its inception, it has now become a net exporter of goods, and is positioned to marginally benefit from a stronger US dollar.

“Our strategic focus on growing our exports business has started to bear fruits. It is something that we take pride in. From a relatively small and unknown manufacturing and R&D company in the Philippines, our export customers are starting to recognize us as a quality, reliable, and world-competitive supplier of various food and chemical raw materials,” said D&L president and CEO Alvin Lao.

“Looking ahead, especially with the much anticipated commercial operations of our facility in Batangas, we see various opportunities that we can now take advantage of given the new capacity and capabilities that we will have. We see exports accounting for at least 50% of our total revenues in the next few years,” Lao said.

The strong export performance and outlook were driven by products where D&L have a competitive advantage in.

The company is also banking on the rise in the country's vaccination rate with approximately 55% and 23% of Metro Manila and of the entire country’s population already fully vaccinated, respectively.

“Overall, we should still be on-track to reach at least the same level of pre-pandemic income booked in 2019,” Lao said.—AOL, GMA News