August 17, 2005

Alaska Milk Corp net profit fall 26 percent for first half 2005

Philippines' Alaska Milk Corp. reported a 26 percent fall in its net profit for this year's first half at 160 million pesos, compared with 215 million pesos during the same period the previous year, due to higher expenses.

Revenue for this year's first half rose to 2.4 billion pesos, from 2.34 billion pesos during the same period in 2004, due to higher selling prices of all milk products and strong performance of the ready-to-drink milk business, the company said.

Meanwhile, first half cost of sales and operating expenses rose six percent year-on-year to 2.2 billion pesos from 2.08 billion pesos in 2004, due to higher prices of major raw materials.

Earlier this year, selling prices of selected Alaska products were increased by an average of seven percent, to offset the rise in raw material costs.

Alaska Milk's Q2 net profit rose nine percent year-on-year to 67 million pesos from 62 million pesos in 2004.

However, the company said consumer demand for milk products remained weak during this year's second quarter, due to inflationary pressure caused by higher crude oil prices.