MANILA - Food ingredients and chemicals manufacturer D&L Industries said on Monday that its third quarter net income stood at P573 million, an improvement from previous quarter declines brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

D&L's P573-million net profit for the quarter is nearing growth levels, dropping by 7 percent from P617 million a year ago and bringing January to September net income to P1.3 billion, down 32 percent from last year.

“The recovery in the third quarter confirms that we’ve survived the worst of this pandemic. Our income for the third quarter doubled from the income recorded in the second quarter, and even managed to surpass our first quarter income which was not fully impacted by the pandemic yet," D&L President and CEO Alvin Lao said.

Resiliency in business segments led to strong sales across the board as third quarter sales improved by 4 percent to P5.7 billion from P5.5 billion a year ago.

Likewise, sales in the first nine months of the year dipped by 4 percent to P15.9 billion from P16.5 billion.

The earnings of three of four of its business units -- Chemrez, specialty plastics and consumer products ODM -- either gained or were steady compared to same quarter last year.

Its food ingredients segment saw its sales drop by 38 percent. D&L expects the segment to recover as the economy gradually reopens.

“As more and more of our customers resume operations, and as people learn to cope with the new normal, we gain more visibility and confidence as to the way forward. In fact, the imposition of the second Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in August did not have a material impact on our business, and we continued to see an improvement each month," Lao said.

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The company, which is currently constructing a P1.7-billion Batangas facility, has already exceeded P1.5 billion capital outlays in 2019. The facility will cater to its growing export business in the food and oleochemicals segment.

D&L said the Batangas expansion is in line with its aim to ramp up export sales, which it expects to account for 50 percent of its revenues in the long run.