FOOD canner Century Pacific Food Inc. will become part of the MSCI Philippines small-cap index effective May 31, 2016.
It will be joining heavyweights Manila Water, First Gen Holdings Inc. and DoubleDragon Properties Inc. on the highly tracked index.
“We are excited about the prospect of attracting more investors to our story,” the company said.
The inclusion of the maker of popular canned goods, such as Century Tuna and Argentina corned beef, was a result of a semiannual review conducted by MSCI, the leading provider of stock-market indices and investment decision tools to clients worldwide.
Other new additions to the Philippine small-cap index include Solaire casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and casual games maker Xurpas Inc.
These firms replaced Philippine National Bank, SSI Group Inc. and Security Bank Corp. Security Bank was promoted to the main basket of the MSCI Philippine index. PNB and SSI were both kicked out from the index. “The domestic economy continues to provide growth opportunities for a company like ours and we look forward to growing with our shareholders, as we execute on our business plans and strategies,” the company said.
The company reported a net profit of P636 million during the three months ending March 2016, 45 percent higher than last year’s P438.6 million, on strong local demand for the company’s branded products and the financial consolidation of newly acquired Century Pacific Agricultural Ventures Inc.
Revenues were up 22 percent to P6.4 billion during the first three months of 2016, versus the P5.24 billion made during the same period last year. Sales from the three branded businesses marine, meat and milk grew by 15 percent year-on-year and continue to account for 78 percent of the company’s topline.