LOCAL hybrid-rice seed producer SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) said it sees its bottomline in the current fiscal year rising by more than a third, or by 37.47 percent, to at least P700 million, from last year’s P509.2-million net income.
“We see a double-digit growth this year for our bottomline. We are targeting 700 million, and we are on-track of it,” SLAC Chairman and CEO Henry Lim Bon Liong said. “So we expect to be at that level.”
Lim attributes the expected growth in their net income to the reversion of the retail price of their hybrid-rice seeds, from P4,500 per bag to P5,100.
“We lowered the price of rice seeds last year to P4,500 because of my promise to the secretary of agriculture to make it affordable,” he told reporters in a recent news briefing. “So, now we are bringing it back to P5,100 to hit our target.”
SLAC Senior Vice President Cathy B. Galura said they expect a double-digit growth both in the sales of their hybrid-rice seeds and hybrid rice.
“We are targeting this year to plant hybrid rice in 600,000 hectares vis-a-vis last year’s 350,000 to 400,000 hectares. And we are on track of our target as we expect to plant 500,000 hectares this dry season,” Galura said.