MANILA - San Miguel Purefoods Co. Inc., a unit of diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), is set to build an ice cream plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna province.

The facility will be run by Magnolia, San Miguel Purefoods' dairy and ice cream brand. The company will spend P350 million for the construction of the plant, which will have a capacity of 5 million gallons of ice cream per year.

"It's still under construction. (It might be finished) by mid-next year," San Miguel Purefoods President Francisco Alejo III told reporters on Tuesday.

Aside from ice cream, Alejo said San Miguel Purefoods is planning to expand its poultry and meat processing businesses.

SMC is still in talks with several firms, including US-based Hormel Foods Corp., to sell its 49% stake in San Miguel Purefoods. Alejo did not give a specific timetable as to when a deal will be closed, but he said that "It's going to be soon."

"Definitely, San Miguel would like to maintain a majority (stake) in Purefoods," he said.

Profits of SMC rose 173% to P57 billion during the first 9 months of the year on one-off sales of substantial stakes in key operating units. The move is part of a strategic shift into higher-growth sectors such as power, telecoms, and toll roads.

Excluding one-off items, SMC said its net income reached P7.61 billion, up 6% from a year ago. During the 9-month period, SMC earned P97.7 billion from selling a 43% stake in its beer unit, San Miguel Brewery Inc., to Japan's Kirin Holdings.