Seafood producer Thai Union has posted a 1.9% decline in third quarter sales, of THB 34.2 billion (€909 million), mainly due to the appreciation of the Thai baht currency and declining raw material prices.
The owner of John West and King Oscar said that its gross profit for the period was THB 5.4 billion, while gross profit margin was 15.7% compared to 14% in the second quarter, its best quarterly profit performance since 2016.
Ambient sales at the business rose 0.4% year-on-year in the quarter, with sales contribution from the frozen and chilled seafood businesses falling 8.1%. Pet care and value added product sales fell 5.4%, again due to currency effects.
Gross Profit Margin
"We increased our gross profit margin and net profit was the best since 2015, resulting from solid operation support, significant operational improvement and stable raw material prices," said Thiraphong Chansiri, Thai Union CEO.
"Thai Union will continue to expand its business portfolio through business diversification while continuing aggressive development of product innovation."
Thai Union has recently introduced a premium seafood store concept, The Lobster Lab, at Alibaba's retail chain Hema in Shanghai, China. This restaurant and food-to-go concept serves live lobsters from North America.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
