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TUF’s 2009 net profit grows 52 pct to record breaking B3.34 bln

18 February 2010 844 views No Comment

Thai Union Frozen Products Plc (TUF), Thailand’s leading manufacturer and exporter of frozen and canned seafood, recently announced that its net profit for last year had reached a record breaking 3.34 billion baht, an increase of 52 percent from that of 2008.

TUF’s president Thiraphong Chansiri on Monday disclosed that the huge increase in the company’s 2009 net profit was partly the result of a dramatic profit surge in the fourth quarter from 307 million baht in 2008 to 718 million baht last year.

The company’s annual sales in US dollars for the entire 2009 dropped about 2.7 percent from 2.07 million dollars in the previous year to 2.01 million dollars while, in
Thai baht, slightly declined from 69.05 billion baht in 2008 to about 69 billion baht.

Thiraphong said the company is extremely pleased with its 2009 operating results as the net profit of 3,344 million baht was the highest ever in the company’s history on the back of effective management and cost control measures, coupled with outstanding operating results in overseas subsidiaries.

He disclosed that the company had paid a total sum of 17 million dollars, or about 568 million baht, for the closure of its American Samoa plant and the opening of new manufacturing facility in Georgia, USA, in addition to the merger of the management teams at two US subsidiaries, Tri-Union Frozen Foods and Empress International, as part of structural changes in its overseas operations.

Out of TUF’s exports in 2009, he said, tuna products were still the largest share of 44 percent while frozen shrimp was about 20 percent, canned cat food nine percent, canned seafood nine percent, shrimp feed six percent, canned sardine and mackerel four percent and frozen cephalopod three percent. Five percent of the company’s products were for the domestic market.

During the past year, USA remained the number one market with 49 percent share, followed by the European Union at 13 percent, Japan 12 percent, domestic sales 11 percent, African nations six percent, Oceania three percent, the Middle East two percent, Asia two percent, and Canada and South America at one percent each.

In 2009, the company also saw strong sales growth in several products, including 40 percent growth in canned sardine, 11 percent in frozen cephalopod and salmon, eight percent in shrimp feed and three percent sales growth in canned seafood.