Hard liquor producer Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (GSMI) posted a 66 percent growth in net income to P2.1 billion in the first six months of the year as sales continue to increase while consumers are locked down due to the pandemic.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said revenues rose 36 percent to P20.2 billion while operating income ended 45 percent higher at P2.6 billion.

The company is set to pay out in September another special dividend of P1.00 on top of the regular dividend of P0.25 per common share.

GSMI attributed higher sales to its marketing campaigns, wider market distribution and sustained operational efficiencies during the crisis created new opportunities and helped push the company’s recovery even further.

Volumes for the first semester rose 21 percent year-on-year, boosted by the strong performance of core brand Ginebra San Miguel. The marketing campaigns and programs implemented during the first semester helped drive volumes.

“Our efforts to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic – strengthening our sales distribution network and continuously promoting our core brands –gained momentum as quarantine travel restrictions gradually eased before end of the first half to allow for more mobility across the country and to support our economy’s recovery,” GSMI President Ramon S. Ang said.

Despite losing sales amid the lockdowns early in the pandemic in 2020, GSMI heeded the call to help in the fight against COVID-19 by retooling its facilities to manufacture disinfectant alcohol that were in short supply at the time.

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and GSMI donated a total of 1.3 million liters of San Miguel Ethyl Alcohol to almost 3,700 critical facilities and communities nationwide.

“Even when the pandemic hit us the hardest, we did not lose sight of doing the right thing, and we are committed more than ever to help boost the economy and support sectors and communities that continue to be impacted by this health crisis,” Ang added.