SET-listed seafood company Thai Union Group reported record revenue in the second quarter of 2022, thanks to the strength of its core businesses and product popularity among global consumers.
In the April-June period, Thai Union posted sales of 38.9 billion baht, an increase of 8.5% compared to the same period last year, driven mainly by increased demand and higher selling prices.
Adjusted net profit for the second quarter, without a one-time impact from the 424-million-baht change in the fair value of Red Lobster’s preferred shares as a result of higher US interest rates, and the 195 million baht in restructuring costs from Rügen Fisch in Germany, stood at 2.2 billion baht, down 8.4% year-on-year.
Thai Union said its robust sales performance over the quarter reflected the group’s well-balanced and diversified portfolio across its three main business units.
Seafood sales grew 10.7% to 16.9 billion baht, thanks to a combination of higher prices, depreciation of the Thai baht, and strong consumer demand.
The frozen and chilled seafood business booked a 6.5% year-on-year decline in sales to 13.9 billion baht, largely due to the normalisation of food service businesses in the US after a very strong performance in 2021.
The PetCare, value-added, and other business units posted a 41.7% year-on-year increase in sales to 8.1 billion baht, thanks to strong demand for pet food and higher sales from value-added products.
In the first half of 2022, sales totalled 75.2 billion baht, while adjusted net profit declined 12.7% to 3.9 billion baht.
Thai Union also declared an interim dividend payment of 0.40 baht per share.
“Business diversification continues to be the cornerstone of our ongoing growth path, reflected in our results for the second quarter, which remained robust despite the impact of two one-off items,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, chief executive of Thai Union Group.
“Consumers around the world continue to be drawn to our healthy and nutritious products and, by delivering new and innovative products, we are excited to be attracting even more customers to our global portfolio of brands.”
Mr Thiraphong said Thai Union continues to focus on higher-margin businesses and, during the second quarter, announced a US$10 million investment in Mara Renewables Corporation, one of the world’s leading producers of sustainably grown algae-based bio-products.
This is because of opportunities in the expansion of Mara’s proven portfolio of micro-algal products and unique innovation. Thai Union also moved forward on construction of its protein hydrolysate and collagen peptide facilities and a new culinary factory, which are both planned to be commercialised in 2023.
“Thai Union remains on track to achieve our 2025 financial and business targets,” said Mr Thiraphong. “We recognise that economic conditions continue to present a challenge, including inflationary pressures in many markets, rising interest rates and ongoing supply chain issues, so we are still focused on cost efficiency, strengthening our core businesses and building value-enhancing operations.”