Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF), the country's largest meat and feed producer, on Friday reported a 45% jump in net profit, its highest in five years, due to a recovery in domestic chicken and shrimp businesses and an improvement in Vietnam operations.
CPF, controlled by the country's richest man Dhanin Chearavanont, made net profit of 5.18 billion baht ($146.29 million) for the July-September quarter, its highest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2011.
This compared with average 5.05 billion baht forecast from 12 analysts polled by Reuters, and 3.57 billion baht a year earlier.
Third-quarter sales rose 10% to 122 billion baht, mainly due to growth of 11% from the company's foreign operations, while domestic sales rose 7% from a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
International operations made up 62% of third-quarter sales, with 38% coming from Thai operations.
CPF, the flagship business of the country's largest agribusiness conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, has been looking to buy assets overseas to boost growth and offset a slowdown at home.
Last month, Chia Tai (China) Investment Co, an indirect subsidiary of CPF, acquired a 70% stake in China's animal feed producer and chicken meat processor, Fujian Sumpo Foods Holding Co, for 1.7 billion baht, as part of its business expansion in China.
Before the earnings announcement, CPF shares closed down 1.6% to 30.75 baht, while the main SET index was 1.3% lower.