'Shrimp king' Minh Phu reports first loss after 7 years

Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, Vietnam’s leading shrimp exporter, reported a net loss of VND195 billion ($7.54 million) in 2023, the first loss after seven fiscal years.

Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, Vietnam’s leading shrimp exporter, reported a net loss of VND195 billion ($7.54 million) in 2023, the first loss after seven fiscal years.

The company, registered on the unlisted public company market UPCoM as MPC, recorded net revenues of nearly VND10.7 trillion ($436.2 million), down 35% year-on-year, according to its newly released financial statement.

The headquarters of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation in Ca Mau province, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of the company.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, its net revenue reached VND3.22 trillion ($131.27 million), a year-on-year increase of 26.2%. However, rising cost prices pulled gross profit margin down to nearly 9%, as compared to 22.5% in the same period the previous year.

As a result, the firm’s gross profit hit only VND290 billion ($11.82 million) in the quarter, down more than 49.5% year-on-year.

Financial revenue plunged 82.3% to VND27 billion ($1.1 million). Financial and sales expenses were VND68.1 billion ($2.78 million) and VND218.6 billion ($8.91 million), down nearly 56% and 13.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, business governance costs nearly doubled to VND79.9 billion ($3.26 million).

After deducting costs, the company saw its Q4 net profit plummet over 96.5% year-on-year to VND9.1 billion ($370,980).

Given the above results, the company, based in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau, failed to fulfill its yearly targets of VND12.79 trillion ($521.4 million) in revenue and VND639 billion ($26 million) in after-tax profit.

The firm’s total assets as of December 31, 2023 reached VND10.2 trillion ($415.82 million), down nearly 4.2% compared to the beginning of the year. Of which, inventories were worth of VND4.97 trillion, down nearly 1.6%; short-term receivables VND1.28 trillion, down 16.3%; and fixed assets VND1.48 trillion, down nearly 7.8%.

Regarding capital structure, Minh Phu’s total liabilities hit VND4.74 trillion ($193.23 million), down nearly 2.1%, including VND3.9 trillion of short and long-term financial loans.

MPC closed the Friday session at VND17,100 ($0.7) per share.