Agri group Loc Troi to pay 25% dividend rate in shares

Loc Troi Group JSC, a leading agricultural services and food corporation in Vietnam, will pay last year’s dividend of 25% in shares to add more than VND1 trillion ($42.65 million) to its charter capital.

This is part of plans approved at the group’s annual general meeting held in the Mekong province of An Giang on Friday.

Loc Troi, registered on the unlisted public company market (UpCOM) as LTG, will issue more than 20 million shares for the dividend payment plan. The corporation expects to raise the dividend rate to 30% next year.

The agribusiness set its 2023 after-tax profit target a VND400 billion ($17 million), up 3% year-on-year.

LTG will also continue its sustainable development strategy that embraces green production in line with the Vietnamese government’s efforts to promote sustainable agriculture.

“Loc Troi will continue to invest in large-scale and synchronous agricultural production via collaboration with cooperatives,” said Nguyen Duy Thuan, CEO of the group.

He mentioned several measures, including biological and organic solutions to reduce the use of chemicals, and using more machines and drones across all farming stages to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

Over the past two years, more than 80,000 tons of premium rice from LTG have reached European markets, said board member Philipp Roesler.

“For the first time ever, Loc Troi has taken advantage of opportunities created by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement to export rice,” he said.

Loc Troi chairman Huynh Van Thon told the meeting: “My firm belief is that by joining hands with farmers for sustainable development through stable and continuous production models, we can create truly sustainable impacts, ensure the quality of agricultural products, reduce production costs, and ensure profits for farmers while adapting to climate changes.

“We’ll continue to ship our high-quality Vietnamese agricultural products to consumers around the world,” he said.

The firm achieved a net revenue of VND11.69 trillion ($497.28 million) last year, up 14% against 2021. The group's after-tax profit reached VND412 billion ($17.52 million), down 1.6%.

In October, seven banks - one domestic and six foreign - agreed on a three-year (2022-2025), $100 million syndicated loan for Loc Troi to invest in expanding high-quality rice production. The group said it would use the credit package to provide seeds, agricultural materials and services to cooperative alliances, cooperatives, production groups and associate farmers.

The seven credit suppliers were Military Bank of Vietnam; Kasikornbank (Thailand); First Commercial Bank, E.SUN Commercial Bank (Taiwan); Agricultural Bank of China Limited - Hanoi branch; China Construction Bank Corp. - HCMC branch; and CTBC Bank Co. Ltd (mainland China).