After divesting from its losing United States (US) operations, Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL) is now focusing on protecting and growing its Asian operations to drive long-term growth and profitability.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Thursday, March 12, DMPL said, “the company can now concentrate fully on driving growth within its profitable core business.”

DMPL said its subsidiary Del Monte Philippines Inc. continues to perform well, with resilient consumer demand supported by a strong and stable supply chain.

The group’s immediate key priorities include reinforcing Philippine market leadership in beverage, culinary, and packaged fruit; launching new products in new segments to broaden the consumer base; and expanding in growth channels such as convenience stores, away-from-home, drugstores, and schools.

Overseas, the firm plans to maintain market leadership in fresh pineapples across north Asia.

It will also continue the momentum on improving the productivity of C74 pineapple, a variety used for packaged pineapple products, by more than 15 percent versus fiscal year (FY) 2025 and maintain inventory levels below 70 days.

DMPL said it will also continue to prioritize raising equity to reduce leverage and capital deficits resulting from the impairment in 2025 of investment and other assets in its US operations.

The group also intends to continue divesting its remaining stake in Sundrop Brands Ltd. in India as part of its ongoing efforts to optimize capital allocation.

Meanwhile, its strong results for the first nine months of its FY ending in June 2026 demonstrate the strength and growth momentum of DMPL’s business in the Philippines and international markets.

DMPL reported a 526-percent surge in net profit for the first nine months of FY 2026 to $32.3 million from $5.2 million in the same period a year ago, as sales increased 14.2 percent to $682.4 million from $597.5 million.

This was driven by higher exports of fresh and packaged pineapple products and higher sales from the Philippines.

The stronger performance also reflects gross margin expansion across markets, supported by higher volume, a better product mix, and pricing actions implemented in line with inflation.

The results also benefited from lower interest costs during the period; however, this was partly offset by higher unrealized foreign exchange (forex) losses from balance sheet revaluation due to a weaker Philippine peso at the end of the period.

The Philippine market generated sales of $322.7 million, representing growth of 8.3 percent in peso terms and 8.4 percent in US dollar terms.

The increase was driven by sustained demand across channels, specifically in general trade, modern trade, and food service, alongside continued momentum in core categories, particularly packaged fruit and beverage.

International sales grew by 15.2 percent to $298.6 million, primarily driven by robust demand for fresh pineapples in China, Japan, and the Middle East. The growth was supported by higher export volume and improved pricing, especially for S&W Deluxe premium pineapples.

In Japan, fresh pineapple sales increased by 19 percent due to higher demand for fresh-cut pineapple in retail, as well as the entry of S&W Deluxe pineapple with a new customer.

DMPL delivered a higher gross margin of 33.2 percent, compared with 27.9 percent in the same period a year ago, representing an improvement of 500 basis points (bps).

The margin expansion was primarily driven by pricing actions to offset inflation and a more favorable sales mix across markets, particularly from higher-priced S&W Deluxe fresh pineapple exports. In addition, a better customer and product mix also improved the margin of the export packaged segment.