Delfi has reported a 539% y-o-y surge in patmi to US$7.5 million ($10.27 million) for 3QFY2022 ended September.
Revenue, meanwhile, grew 28.7% y-o-y to US$112.0 million. Of this figure, Indonesia contributed US$70.0 million in revenue, a growth of 31.9% y-o-y.
The growth in 3QFY2022 reflects very strong Y-o-Y growth in revenue for both Indonesia at 31.9%, and Regional Markets at 23.9%, with revenue figures of US$70.0 million and US$42.0 million, respectively
Delfi says it has surpassed the performance of pre-Covid-19 periods in 2019 when revenue was US$105 million and patmi was US$5.9 million in 3QFY2019.
Gross profit margin in the latest quarter grew 270 basis points to 29.7%. “Overall, the higher sales growth of our Premium format category, combined with our disciplined cost control, improved operational efficiencies, while tighter control of costs helped drive our gross profit margin higher for 3QFY2022,” says Delfi in a Nov 15 business update.
Meanwhile, ebitda grew 116.0% y-o-y to US$13.7 million. The growth in ebitda comes on the back of higher sales, higher gross profit margin and “continued tight control of operating costs”, adds Delfi.
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As at Sept 30, Delfi’s cash and cash equivalents shrank 6.0% to US$80.3 million, down from US$86.2 million at Dec 31, 2021. Total assets, meanwhile, grew 0.1% to US$364 million over the same period.
For the nine months ended Sept 30, Delfi generated free cash flow of US$14.0 million on higher profitability combined with continued tight management of working capital.
Delfi markets and distributes its own brand of chocolate confectionery products in its core markets of Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. Its chocolate confectionery products are also sold in other markets, including Thailand, Brunei, India, South Korea and Vietnam.
At its results for 1HFY2022 ended May, Delfi declared an interim cash dividend of 1.58 US cents, the highest paid since 2014.
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Delfi expects the positive growth momentum to continue for the rest of the year,” says the company. “To leverage improved consumer sentiment and capture the uptrend in consumption patterns, the Group intends to continue its focus on its core strategic products as well as to leverage its distribution capabilities to drive higher sales.”
Delfi says it is mindful of challenges in the macroenvironment including heightened geopolitical tensions, currency volatility, supply chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures in Indonesia and elsewhere. “[These] are expected to add to the rising cost of materials and overall prices later in 2022. To cushion these challenges, the Group will continue to closely manage its operating costs and collections.”
Shares in Delfi closed flat at 75.5 cents on Nov 15.
