LBC income up 59% as logistics sales boom

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Photo from http://www.lbcexpress.com/category/business-solutions/cold-chain
Photo from http://www.lbcexpress.com/category/business-solutions/cold-chain
Growth in the logistics segment was attributed to increases in both retail and corporate sales. Photo from www.lbcexpress.com/category/business-solutions/cold-chain

Logistics, courier, and remittance services provider LBC Express, Inc. reported a net income of P620.547 million in the first nine months of 2016, which is 59% higher than the P389.339 million earned in the same period last year.

Gross profit likewise increased, rising 21.7% to P2.279 billion from P1.872 billion in the first nine months of 2015.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, parent company LBC Holdings, Inc. said the improvement was primarily due to higher revenues and improved freight charges in the logistics segment.

Growth in the logistics segment was attributable to increases in both retail and corporate sales by 10.5% and 34.1%, respectively.

For the third quarter alone, net income jumped 107.6% to P206.677 million from P99.537 million in the same quarter last year, pushed up by revenue growth in logistics, as retail and corporate sales rose by 3% and 75.1%, respectively.

In a press statement, LBC said it is optimistic of continued stronger sales, lower costs, and improved efficiencies going into the fourth quarter.

“LBC’s continued push for retail expansion lent itself to the opening of 30 new branches in 2016, with around 10 more anticipated to open before the year ends,” the company said.

Additional innovations in the express delivery industry have also been introduced to support LBC’s focus on convenience and growth. Among them, the Vpouch, Kilobox Mini, and Kilobox Slim have been added as options for SKU (stock keeping unit) receptacles. Besides systems enhancements, service innovations have been introduced for customer convenience, like the revamped GPS-enabled fleet.

The addition of LBC’s new Cavite warehouse sees 10,000 square meters dedicated to inventory monitoring and control, equipped with radio frequency technology for real-time capture of movement inside the warehouse and inventory cycle count.

Annually, LBC said, it serves a growing customer base of about 16 million customers (taken from the 2014-2016 annual average), with 3 million balikbayan boxes processed and delivered from January 2013 to August 2016.

In the Middle East, one of the fastest growing divisions of the company, LBC has collaborated with the Philippine Consulate of Dubai and the Northern Emirates and Gulf Law’s Atty. Barney Almazar to pioneer initiatives that will give Filipino expats in the UAE a direct line to assistance.

Dubbed the Kabayan Corner, the direct line creates a platform that allows Filipinos to send their concerns directly to the Philippine Consul General, Paul Raymund Cortes, via a drop box.

Locally, LBC said it sought to establish partnerships with key government and nongovernment organizations to try to make an impact across the communities it serves, while leveraging their core capabilities as a business.

LBC now has 1,225 owned branches, 91 hubs, and 13 distribution centers in the Philippines.

“Our ability to apply our expertise in this business with innovative technology and an inherent understanding of what brings joy to our customers is enabling us to continue being a benchmark in this category,” LBC group president and chief operating officer Michael Camahort said.

He added that LBC approaches the last quarter of 2016 confident and optimistic that “we will be able to meet the demands of the peak season and deliver great service to our millions of customers all over the globe.”