UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. (URC) may implement additional selective price increases in the coming months as elevated fuel and logistics costs continue to pressure operations amid the ongoing Middle East war, a company official said during Day 1 of the Investor Day 2026 hosted by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Thursday.
“We’ve done our first round of pricing announced earlier this month in May, and we are looking at other potential pricing moves in the coming months depending on how long the conflict goes,” Jose Miguel Manalang, URC director for corporate strategy and investor relations, said during the briefing.
Manalang said the company was taking a calibrated approach to price increases, particularly for products aimed at value-conscious consumers.
“We try not to touch the value-focused SKUs (stock keeping units) or the value-focused brands to ensure that the products remain accessible to the broad consumer,” he said.
Manalang said the biggest operational impact from the Middle East tensions has been higher fuel expenses tied to logistics and transportation.
“You cannot escape diesel prices doubling. Even if diesel prices have moderated, they’re still up 25 percent versus where they were on February 27,” he said, noting that trucking operators had begun passing on some of the additional costs to manufacturers such as URC.
He said the company was also pursuing cost-saving measures across its operations, including tighter expense management, yield improvements and operational efficiencies to limit the need for aggressive price increases.
“As much as possible, we would not want to pass on all the pricing to the consumers,” Manalang said.
Despite inflationary pressures, URC’s branded Philippines business posted 10-percent growth in the first quarter, driven mainly by higher volumes across categories.
Manalang said the company continued to see healthy momentum entering the second quarter, although it remained watchful for signs of weakening consumer demand caused by elevated inflation and fuel prices.
The company also said it had secured sufficient inventories of key petroleum-based packaging materials, including PET resins and films, amid global supply chain concerns.
“By and large, we are actually locked in on supply for many of these all the way up to the third quarter, some into the early fourth quarter,” Manalang said.
URC also expects sugar prices to remain supported in the coming months as higher fertilizer and diesel costs, alongside the expected effects of El Niño, weigh on sugarcane production.
Meanwhile, the company said its coffee business was improving after facing profitability pressures in 2025 due to record-high coffee bean prices and intense competition.
Manalang said URC expects the segment to return to profitability by the third quarter as lower global coffee prices begin feeding into results.
On its international operations, the company said Southeast Asia would remain its primary growth market over the next decade due to the region’s young population and expanding middle class.
“For the next decade, we are looking at Southeast Asia being the locus of growth,” Manalang said.
