LBC Express sees growth extending through 2016

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ID-100280785LBC Express expects an increase in volume and revenue for 2016 as it unveiled plans to further expand services nationwide.

Group president and chief operating officer Miguel Camahort, in an interview after the company stockholders’ meeting on July 29, said volumes handled by the logistics, courier, and remittance service company have increased to around 200 tons a day, up 25% to 30% from 2015, and expects the trend to continue until the end of the year.

Growth, Camahort said, will come from the retail side of business, which accounts for more than 80% of the company’s total revenues.

The country’s economy has been growing very well and “communities are expanding,” which both means room for expansion for LBC, he added.

Camahort said LBC is expanding its supply chain services for corporate accounts, which include warehousing, procurement, cold chain, inventory, and consolidation. The two-year investment will be around P200 million.

In addition, he disclosed plans to double within the year the 10,000 square meters of capacity at its six warehouses. LBC has two warehouses in Metro Manila, and one each in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and Northern Luzon.

On equipment investments, LBC has already acquired handheld units for its couriers, refrigerated containers, and trucks. Camahort said LBC is also investing heavily in technology to automate, enhance, re-engineer, and test systems to see where further improvements in efficiency can be effected.

He stressed all the investments LBC is now making is intended to turn the company into a total supply chain services provider.

The firm also expects an increase in revenues for the year, as investments in previous years have started to “bear fruit.”

LBC’s net income in the first quarter reached P217.404 million, a 109% growth from the P104.156 million registered in the same period last year, according to LBC Express Holdings, Inc. chief financial officer Enrique V. Rey, Jr.

He noted that the increase in revenues in 2016 will be aided by the completion of one-time investments like re-fleeting that were made in previous years and by growth in volumes being handled.

Meanwhile, Camahort said they are happy with plans of the new government to tackle logistics development not just for people but for cargoes as well.

The LBC executive said they are interested in the administration’s plans to develop railways, improve runway utilization, and increase flights at airports, which will facilitate movements of goods and ease road traffic.

Earlier, Camahort said the newly signed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act “helps our customers” by increasing the tax-exempt value of balikbayan (personal belongings) boxes.

“So now this gives ease of mind to our customers that the goods they are sending (are) of value which is allowable by the law,” Camahort added. He noted though that the law is not open-ended, and there are still categories that LBC makes sure are followed.

“Hopefully that would help everybody to send more boxes and we want that to happen. When that happens they’re happy, we’re happy, everybody’s happy, and the government gets more revenue from legal taxes on the box,” Camahort said. – Roumina Pablo

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net