Vietnam's Minh Phu Seafood posts strong net profits in 2009

Minh Phu Seafood JS Company (MPC) said that its pretax profit at VND241.09 billion (US$12.62 million) in 2009, compared to a loss of VND38.1 billion (US$1.99 million) in 2008 due to high financial investment.

Its net revenues rose 8.7% on year to VND3.069 trillion (US$160.76 million) in the year. The full-year earnings per share was VND3,391 (US$0.177), MPC said on Thursday (Feb 25).

In the fourth quarter, MPC netted a profit of VND94.11 billion (US$4.92 million), against the loss of VND10.97 billion (US$574,646) in the same period of 2008, while net revenues rose 20.12% to VND1.026 trillion (US$53.86 million).

The shrimp producer liquidated almost all financial investments to focus on core business in 2009. At the year's end, it had VND14.6 billion (US$781,989) in short-term securities investment, total assets of VND2.215 trillion (US$118.63 million) and equity of VND1.081 trillion (US$57.93 million).

The firm is now traded on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, with a 13.68% stake owned by foreigners.