AgriNurture, Inc. (ANI) reported a 65 percent jump in recurring operating profit to P102.5 million in the first half of 2021 from the 61.87 million earned in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said consolidated revenues grew 29 percent to P2.31 billion in the first semester year-on-year.

Attributable net income declined to P84.48 million from P317.68 million due to the absence of one time-gains in the first half of this year.

In the first six months of 2020, ANI booked non-operating income amounting to P281.33 million mainly as a result of the increase in trademark valuation for the Group’s “Big Chill” brand.

“The company continues to grow despite the impact of the pandemic on our operations,” said ANI Chairman Antonio Tiu who noted that, “during these trying times, our revenues still grew 29 percent while recurring operating profit actually jumped by 65 percent.”

For the first six months of 2021, the ANI Group’s Philippine operations contributed 46 percent while sales from foreign operations accounted for 54 percent of consolidated sales.

Due to the stable selling prices of banana and coco juice in the international market, constant supply of raw materials and increase in demand of customers especially in the Chinese and American markets, the Group’s export sales amounted to P883.1 million, 9 percent higher compared to the same period in 2020.

The export sales of fruits increased significantly (both volume and price) after the Chinese government lifted the lockdown. Also, sales for coco juice went up due to increase in demand in the United States of America during the period.

To further drive sales growth, the Group launched its own e-commerce platform through its ANI Express website (https://aniexpress.1ani.com.ph/) and mobile application (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ani.riceapp) where customers can order fresh produce, canned beverages, rice and other essential goods for delivery to customers.

The Group is also launching new products such as Plant Based Meat, Non Dairy Coco Ice Cream, Functional Health Drinks in cans under Big Chill brand for local and export distribution which is expected to start to record double digit growth for the rest of the coming quarters.

Combined foreign trading operations posted an almost 59 percent increase in sales in the first two quarters of 2021 from P784.77 million in 2020 to P1.25 billion in 2021 mainly due to the lifting of the lockdown by the Chinese government.