Agri major HAGL to sell entire stake at banana pork distribution firm

Agricultural giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) wants to sell all 2.75 million shares in Bapi HAGL – a distributor of pork derived from banana-fed pigs.

The company said Saturday its board of directors had approved the transfer of all shares at Bapi HAGL JSC. If successful, Bapi will no longer be an affiliate of HAGL.

Bapi HAGL with the “banana pork” brand was set up in early 2022 on the basis of cooperation between HAGL and Dong A Pharma. It had an initial charter capital of VND50 billion ($2.06 million), of which HAGL contributed 55%.

In 2023, Bapi changed from a subsidiary to an affiliated company of HAGL after a share issuance to increase charter capital to VND100 billion ($4.12 million). As a result, HAGL's ownership ratio in Bapi decreased to 34%.

At HAGL's investor meeting in late August 2023, the group's chairman Doan Nguyen Duc said Bapi had suffered a loss due to ineffective distribution. After that, HAGL reviewed and restructured Bapi by changing its board of directors, with Do Xuan Dien as chairman and Dinh Van Loc as director. Both of them are currently Bapi's legal representatives.

Bapi entered the market in 2022 with nearly 200 stores and launched an online distribution channel at the end of that year. However, the number of stores as of August 2023 had plunged to more than 50 due to fierce competition.

The HAGL chairman recently sold large assets including a hotel for VND180 billion ($7.42 million) to pay off bond debt. He also plans to sell HAGL Hospital in the coming time.

In the third quarter of 2023, HAGL recorded revenue of VND1.89 trillion ($77.86 million), an increase of 31.1% over the same period last year, and after-tax profit of VND324.5 billion ($13.37 million), down 12.2%.

In the first nine months, the group posted VND5 trillion ($206 million) in revenue, up 45% year-on-year, and VND710 billion ($29.25 million) in after-tax profit, a decrease of 20.5%.

This year, HAGL targets net revenue of VND5.12 trillion ($210.9 million) and after-tax profit of VND1.13 trillion ($46.55 million).

On the stock market, HAG closed Friday at VND13,200 ($0.54) per share.