August 11, 2009

Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) is aiming for a net profit of about THB8 billion (US$234.4 million) this year after generating a record net profit in the second quarter.

CPF president and CEO Adirek Sripratak said the company now expects sales to grow this year by about 5 percent, down from an estimate of 10 percent, as the downturn has hurt consumer demand.

The company reported that its second-quarter net profit has more than tripled, pushed up by growth in overseas business, better results for its aquaculture business in Thailand due to lower material costs, and increased sales of ready-to-eat products under the CP brand to markets worldwide, earning a net profit of THB3.19 billion, a year-on-year surge of 224 percent from THB984.78 million and up from THB770.5 million in the first quarter.

Sales for the quarter increased nearly 4 percent to THB40.6 billion while production costs fell 3.4 percent to THB32.7 billion. The company's six-month net profit rose to nearly THB4 billion on sales of THB75.4 billion.

Sripratak said the company aims to increase its revenue proportion from its food business from 20 percent of total sales revenue to at least 30 percent in the next five years, which would help stabilise CPF's net profit.

He also said that overseas operations contributed 17 percent of CPF's total sales revenue, with exports providing 15 percent and the local market 68 percent for the first six months of 2009.

US$1 = THB34.129 (Aug 11)