Del Monte Pacific jumped back into the black during its financial year ending April 2016, with net profit rising to US$51.5 million against a prior loss of US$43.2 million.

The group – which is dual listed on the Singapore Mainboard and Philippine Stock Exchange - achieved full year sales of US$2.3 billion, a year-on-year rise of 4%.

Its U.S. subsidiary Del Monte Foods, which accounted for 78% of the group's sales, generated revenue of US$1.8 billion, 4% better than prior year.

Del Monte Foods also managed to increase its market share in the U.S. canned vegetable and fruit segments amid industry contraction, the organization said.

The Philippine market delivered a record performance for the full year with sales up 6%, driven by an 'expanded user base and household penetration'.

Sales of the S&W branded business in Asia and the Middle East also posted a record performance, growing by 10% on higher sales from both the fresh and packaged segments. China generated strong growth in fresh, driven by distribution expansion.

The group said its gross margin for the full year improved to 21.2%, up from 18.7%, with lower trade spend in Del Monte Foods and 'cost optimisation initiatives' to mitigate the impact of lower pineapple output from El Niño.

"During the past year, we continued to lay the foundation for future growth and this is reflected in the sales and financial performance of Del Monte Pacific in FY2016," the group's CEO Joselito D Campos, Jr said.

"We drove improvements in our cost structure and better aligned operations with our strategic direction to gain market share, increase margins and expand into adjacent categories as part of a long-range plan to grow sales and profits for the company in the years ahead."

The group said it expects it will continue to be profitable during the currently financial year.

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