Philippines: San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced on May 13 that it creditably weathered the challenging economic and business environment in 2002 with consolidated net income before restructuring costs of P7.2 billion, up 40% over the previous year.

Combined with the deliberate efforts to restructure the organization and operations to maximize group-wide efficiency, operating income increased by 18% to P12.4 billion. The one-time restructuring costs on the other hand, primarily retirement and benefit costs of about P837 million, resulted in net income of P6.63 billion after such one-off items. It was a year of consolidation, rationalization and integration of San Miguel’s various businesses and operations in 2002. The acquisitions and subsequent programs to restructure and synergize sales, marketing and distribution capabilities enabled the San Miguel group to protect and strengthen market positions across majority of its businesses resulting in a 19% corporate volume growth. Consolidated revenues improved by 12% from 2001 levels to P136 billion, contributed by growth in beverage by 15%, food group by 18% and packaging by 13% over 2001 levels.

14 May, 2004