Thai Union Group Reports Gross Profit of THB 20.1 billion in 2019
- EBITDA reached record levels at THB 12 billion, up 9.2% year-on-year
- Normalized net profit was up 0.5% year-on-year to THB 5,218 million with more than THB 7 billion cash generated
- Successful deleveraging to 1.07x, thanks to strong cash generation and subordinated perpetual debentures
- Top line affected by strong Thai baht
- 2019 dividend payment of THB 0.47 per share, up 17.5% year-on-year
17 February 2020, BANGKOK – Thai Union Group Public PCL. announced a normalized net profit of THB 5,218 million in fiscal year 2019 (FY2019), an increase of 0.5 percent year-on-year. The reported net profit after special items was THB 3,816 million. With this profitability improvement, Thai Union revealed a 6.4 percent gross profit increase to THB 20.1 billion.
The Company continued to improve its operating performance as FY2019 EBITDA reached a record high of THB 12 billion — an increase of 9.2 percent year-on-year — driven largely by improved profitability and consistently improved contributions from investment and affiliates. Consolidated sales decreased by 5.3 percent to THB 126.27 billion, mainly as a result of the Thai baht’s appreciation in the period under review.
Caption: Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO at Thai Union Group PCL.
In 2019, sales volumes grew 1.9 percent over the previous comparable period. This was chiefly due to frozen and chilled seafood products and related business, which increased 12.8 percent year-on-year, as well as a 3.2 percent increase in sales from the PetCare and value-added products business units. Operating profit for FY2019 improved 20.8 percent year-on-year, reaching THB 5,642 million. Geographically, sales in North America continued to play an important role in driving revenue for Thai Union, accounting for 41 percent of total sales, while Europe contributed 28 percent of sales. The Thai market grew to 12 percent of total sales, with Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and South America contributing 19 percent.
“Thai Union continues to focus on profitability throughout our core operations, new value-enhancing businesses and our existing strategic investments,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union Group. “As this set of results closes out the last decade, we can be very proud of the work we have done and the progress we have made throughout the last 10 years. As we enter the new decade, I am confident that we will continue to lead on sustainability and innovation investment. We are also, developing products that respond to the demands of customers and consumers globally through delivering against a focus on Healthy Living and Healthy Oceans.
In the fiscal year 2019, Thai Union’s net debt to equity ratio decreased to 1.07 times, down from 1.40 times in 2018. This was due to the issuance of subordinated perpetual debentures of THB 6 billion in the last quarter of 2019, and further debt reduction from THB 3 billion free cash flow.
Thai Union will pay a 2019 dividend of THB 0.47 per share, an increase of 17.5 percent compared to 2018. The 2019 interim dividend was THB 0.25.
Innovation remains critical to the future growth of Thai Union and the Company continues to focus heavily on using the latest technologies to provide the best products and outcomes for consumers. Last year, Thai Union opened the new Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Bangkok. The GIC houses more than 40 Doctoral Degree scientists and more than 120 researchers in the fields of marine biotechnology, engineering, medicine, food science and nutrition from around the world.
In 2019 Thai Union established SPACE-F, the first global food-tech startup incubator and accelerator in Thailand, in cooperation with the National Innovation Agency and Mahidol University’s Faculty of Science. In late 2019, SPACE-F held its first exclusive preview event with 23 startups from Germany, India, Norway, Singapore, Thailand and the U.S., with an aim to drive innovation in the food industry. The first public Demo Day has been planned for 5 March 2020.
SeaChange®, Thai Union’s global sustainability strategy, continued to help deliver real and lasting change in the seafood industry. Thai Union was again ranked number one in the Food Product Industry Index of the Dow Jones Sustainable Indices (DJSI), achieving this for the second consecutive year. Thai Union was also ranked number one on the inaugural Seafood Stewardship index (SSI), which assessed the contribution of the world’s 30 largest seafood companies to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
During the year, Thai Union, in collaboration with WWF, released its first Sourcing Transparency report. Thai Union partnered with leading alternative protein producer Calysta to offer the world its first taste of commercially farmed shrimp fed with FeedKind®, Calysta’s innovative and sustainable protein which contains a unique carbon signature that can help provide traceability. Thai Union was also joint host of the annual Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) Dialogue, bringing together scientists and 10 of the world’s largest seafood companies with the aim of leading a global transformation towards sustainable seafood production and a healthy ocean.
About Thai Union Group
Thai Union Group PCL is the world’s seafood leader bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for more than 40 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as the world’s largest producer of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 133.3 billion (US$ 4.1 billion) and a global workforce of over 47,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.
The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch and Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, Bellotta and Marvo.
As a company committed to innovation and globally responsible behavior, Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy. Find out more at seachangesustainability.org. Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized in 2018 and 2019 by being ranked number one in the world in the Food Products Industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, achieving a 100th percentile ranking for total sustainability score. Thai Union has now been named to the DJSI for six consecutive years. Thai Union was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the third straight year in 2018.