Seafood stocks expected to grow in 2022 on bullish outlook

HÀ NỘI — With a relatively attractive valuation and a bullish industry outlook, seafood stocks are expected to grow positively in  二0 二 二.

The prospect of the seafood industry in  二0 二 二 is expected to continue to be optimistic, with export turnover forecast to reach US$ 九 billion, An Bình Securities Joint Stock Company said.

According to analysts, the recovery and reopening of the global economy, especially in the US and Europe, thanks to the promotion of vaccinations, will boost demand for Vietnamese seafood exports.

The seafood sector also benefits from multilateral and bilateral trade agreements. As the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) comes into effect, some shrimp products exported to the EU with a tariff rate of  一 二- 二0 per cent will be reduced to 0 per cent, such as frozen black tiger shrimp.

This will reflect in the positive upcoming business results of seafood exporters in the fourth quarter of  二0 二 一 and the whole of  二0 二 二.

In addition, as stock valuation is not high, the seafood industry is still attractive to investors.

On the stock market, except for Vĩnh Hoàn Corporation (VHC), seafood stocks witnessed a strong correction in January after surging last year, with Minh Phú Seafood Corporation (MPC) down  一 五 per cent, Navico (ANV) dropping  二 五 per cent, Camimex Group (CMX) down  三 三 per cent and Sao Mai Group Corporation (ASM) down  二 七 per cent. However, these stocks started to recover and gained quite sharply from the beginning of February.

Especially, on February  一 四, while the market benchmark VN-Index dropped nearly  三0 points, seafood was one of the rare stock groups posting positive performance.

Of which, VHC and ANV hit the ceiling price of  六. 九 per cent, while many other stocks rose such as I.D.I International Development Investment Corporation (IDI) up  六. 五 per cent, Cửu Long Fish JSC (ACL) up  五 per cent, and CMX up  四. 四 per cent.

Bullish results

Despite difficulties, especially during many months of social distancing due to the pandemic, the seafood industry has experienced a successful year in  二0 二 一.

Most businesses in the industry recorded positive business results in the past year, with revenue and profit margins increasing thanks to the recovery of export seafood prices.

In the last quarter of  二0 二 一, the leading exporter of the industry, Vĩnh Hoàn, posted consolidated net revenue of VNĐ 二. 六 九 trillion, up  三 三. 八 per cent over the same period in  二0 二0, resulting in a gain of  一 七 五 per cent in profit after tax to VNĐ 四 六 一. 二 billion. This was the company's highest quarterly profit since mid- 二0 一 八.

For  二0 二 一, Vĩnh Hoàn saw net revenue of VNĐ 九.0 五 trillion with profit after tax reaching VNĐ 一. 一 trillion, up  二 八. 六 per cent and  五 四. 三 per cent on-year, respectively.

Sao Ta Foods JSC(FMC) also reported good results in the last quarter of  二0 二 一. The company’s revenue exceeded the milestone of over VNĐ 一. 四 四 trillion, while its profit after tax reached over VNĐ 一 一0 billion; up  一 九. 四 per cent year-on-year and  七 三. 四 per cent, respectively.

For the whole of  二0 二 一, Sao Ta Foods posted record revenue of nearly VNĐ 五. 二 trillion, while its profit after tax also hit an all-time high at VNĐ 二 八 五. 六 billion.

Similarly, Camimex Group reported revenue in the fourth quarter of  二0 二 一 double the same period of  二0 二0 and profit increased  二 三. 六 per cent over  二0 二0 to VNĐ 二 三. 七 八 billion. 

For  二0 二 一, the company’s net revenue jumped  五 三. 七 per cent to VNĐ 二. 一 九 trillion, with profit after tax up  三 八 per cent to VNĐ 八 二. 九 billion.

Meanwhile, Minh Phú Seafood, which has yet to announce the fourth quarter's consolidated financial statements, would like to extend the deadline for submitting business results until February  二 五.

In the first nine months of the year, Minh Phú recorded net revenue of VNĐ 八. 九 trillion, up  一 一 per cent year-on-year, with profit after tax of VNĐ 五 六 五. 六 billion, up  一 九. 一 per cent. In  二0 二 一, Minh Phú targeted a revenue of VNĐ 一 五. 七 trillion, with profit after tax of VNĐ 一.0 九 trillion.

According to a report from SSI Securities Corporation, the industry's average price to earnings ratio (P/E) increased to  一 一- 一 三x in  二0 二 一, from  七- 九x. VNS