San Miguel poised for 'sooner than expected' pandemic recovery: Top Frontier

MANILA - Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc, San Miguel Corp's controlling shareholder, said Friday the company could recover from the pandemic sooner than expected, and poised to "recover lost ground" citing its ability to adapt to the new normal.

San Miguel Corp has strategies in place to adapt to the new normal in business including resilient supply chains, updated selling methods, manageable cost base, rationalized spending and protected cash flow as well as proactively managing its working capital, Top Frontier said in a statement.

“As we transition to our next normal, I am confident that San Miguel Corporation will recover its footing sooner than expected,” Top Frontier Holdings In chairman Inigo Zobel said.

During its annual shareholders meeting, SMC president and COO Ramon Ang said it would continue working on its infrastructure projects, including the new airport in Bulacan, to create jobs and help the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

• San Miguel boosts infra projects to create jobs, revive economy
• San Miguel to open COVID-19 testing laboratory with 4,000 per day capacity

The company also opened its own COVID-19 testing laboratory with a 4,000 per day capacity, expandable to 12,000 "if needed," which can help boost the country's overall testing capacity, Ang earlier said.

Top Frontier said its consolidated revenues reached P1.02 trillion in 2019, due to strong revenues from most of SMC's major businesses.

However, the disruptions caused by the lockdowns affected San Miguel and Top Frontier’s total first quarter 2020 performance, it said.