May 5, 2022 – D&L Industries’ earnings in the first quarter stood at P780 million, which was up 12% YoY, up 63% QoQ, and above pre-COVID income levels booked in 1Q19 and 1Q18. 1Q22 earnings represent the highest income level for the company in three years despite the Omicron surge in January. The better-than-expected earnings mainly came from the strong performance of its Oleochemicals division and exports, which more than offset the drag from the Omicron surge. With a lower COVID alert level in place and continued decline in new cases in the country, the company sees a continued build up in momentum and renewed business optimism for further recovery.
Management Perspective
“Considering the surprise turn of events in the early part of the year such as the Omicron surge and Russia-Ukraine conflict, our 1Q22 results show that momentum is definitely there with the easing of restrictions and opening up of businesses. Barring another unforeseen event, simply annualizing our 1Q22 earnings will yield P3.1 bn, which is already at par with our record net income booked in 2018,” remarked President and CEO Alvin Lao.
“In the near-term, demand will likely be defined by two opposing forces – continued economic reopening on one hand, and generally higher prices of basic commodities on the other. As a capability-driven company that enables other businesses, we continue to see various opportunities to help our customers navigate the ever-changing business environment whether in the form of coming up with new innovative products or sourcing raw materials in an environment full of supply chain disruptions,” Lao added
Better-than-expected 1Q22 despite Omicron surge and higher commodity prices
D&L Industries managed to post better-than-expected results in the first quarter of 2022 (1Q22) despite the Omicron surge in January and skyrocketing commodity prices for the period. With alert level 3 in place for almost the entire month of January, mobility was once again restricted with limited capacity allowed in public transportation and food establishments. Many companies were also forced to either return to a full work-from-home set up or temporarily halt operations due to a high number of COVID-19 cases among employees.
While there were clear challenges in 1Q22, D&L was able to book an earnings of P780 mn which was up 12% versus the same period last year and was higher than pre-COVID earnings recorded in 1Q19 and 1Q18. 1Q22 earnings represent the highest income level for the company in three years. The move to alert level 1 in March and the resulting opening up of businesses made up for the weakness in January. In addition, the strong performance of the company’s oleochemicals segment and export sales fuelled the company’s earnings growth for the period.