Pressure increased on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the new Philippine president, to abandon an attempt to remove the chairman of San Miguel after the Philippine food and beverage group beat expectations w…
Pressure increased on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the new Philippine president, to abandon an attempt to remove the chairman of San Miguel after the Philippine food and beverage group beat expectations with a 25% rise in net profits to 7.5 billion pesos (US$ 156 million) last year. Net profit (including non-recurring items) rose 14% to 6.8 billlion pesos. Operating income hiked 19% to 7.9 billion pesos from 6.7 billion pesos in the previous year as greater efficiencies and cost management initiatives offset the increases in production costs brought about by higher raw material prices, fuel costs and the depreciation of the peso. When Joseph Estrada became president in 1998 he helped Eduardo Cojuangco resume the chairmanship of SMC. Mr Cojuangco was stripped of control in 1986 with the fall of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Despite his ties to Mr Estrada, who was forced from office last month amid corruption allegations, many analysts credit Mr Cojuangco with improving SMC“s performance through cost-cutting, better distribution and improvement in management. Net sales reached 88.7 billion pesos last year, up 17% from 75.6 billion pesos in 1999. The company achieved double-digit sales growth “across all businesses”, including 14% in beverages. SMC did not provide revenue figures. Last week SMC announced its re-acquisition of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines (CCBP) for A$ 2.25 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) from Coca-Cola Amatil, the Australian bottler. SMC controlled the bottling operation until 1997. The move sealed SMC“s dominance of the local drinks market.