D&L allots P1-B expansion fund

D&L Industries Inc. is setting aside P1 billion for capital expenditures this year, mainly for minor expansions at its Batangas plant as it adjusts to market demand. The amount is lower than the P1.16 billion spent in 2023, with most of the facility’s construction already completed.

“Capex peaked in 2022 at P3.5 billion and it will continue to be lower. There are some projects that were started at the main phase of construction a couple of years ago that have been completed recently and we still have to release the retention fees,” D&L president Alvin Lao said in a media briefing.

“At the same time, we are still making minor expansions, not as big as what we’ve done in the past couple of years, but on a much smaller scale. So there will still be some capex, but the expectation is for it to be lower than what we did last year,” he added.

Expanded output

D&L’s Batangas plant is set to further ramp up operations this year, boosting its contribution to the company’s net income by 2025 and supporting export growth. The facility reported a net income of P244 million in 2024, with fourth-quarter earnings alone reaching P248 million.

With exports making up 30 percent of D&L’s revenues last year, the company expects continued growth after export sales rose to P12.4 billion from P9.1 billion in 2024.

Despite new US tariffs, Lao said the impact on the company will be minimal since “the US is a very small part of (its) export business.”