Top brewer Sabeco reports 23% decline in Q3 profits

Vietnam’s leading beer maker Sabeco, owned by Thailand's ThaiBev, has reported an after-tax profit of VND1.07 trillion ($43.7 million) in the third quarter of 2023, down 23% year-on-year.

The company, which holds about 40% of the beer market in Vietnam, recorded net revenue of VND7.4 trillion ($301 million) in the period, a decrease of over 11%, according to its Q3 financial statement.

Sabeco blamed the lower revenue and profit on fierce competition from international beer brands, lower consumer demand due to the adverse impacts of economic instabilities, and rising raw material costs, while sales and corporate management costs had slightly decreased.

In Q3, the firm's revenue from financial activities expanded 31.3% to more than VND373 billion ($15.17 million), mainly thanks to increased bank deposit interest.

In the first nine months of the year, Sabeco recorded net revenue of VND21.94 trillion ($892.6 million) and after-tax profit of nearly VND3.3 billion ($134,260), down 12% and 25.7% over the same period last year, respectively.

For 2023, Sabeco has set net revenue and post-tax profit targets of VND40.27 trillion ($1.72 billion) and VND5.78 trillion ($246.2 million), up 15.1% and 5% year-on-year, respectively.

Over the nine months, the company fulfilled 54.5% of the year's revenue plan and 57% of the year's after-tax profit target.

As of September 30, Sabeco’s total assets had reached VND33.43 trillion ($1.36 billion), including VND22.4 trillion ($911.3 million) of cash and bank deposits. Its total liabilities were VND6.9 trillion ($280.7 million), down 30% from the beginning of the year.

Sabeco is listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as SAB. Closing the Friday session, the stock fell 4.68% from the previous day to VND63,100 ($2.57) per share, marking its strongest decline in one month. During the one-month period, SAB decreased by more than 16.3%.

The code has lost 28% compared to its "peak" of VND88,000 ($3.58) per share in mid-September. Compared to the beginning of the year, it has declined 24%, hitting its lowest level since April 2020.

In addition to Sabeco, many other brewers also recorded a decline in profits in the first nine months of 2023.

Habeco Hai Phong Brewery JSC reported a loss of VND9.2 billion ($374.3 million), as compared to a profit of nearly VND4 billion ($162,730) in the same period last year.

Saigon-Hanoi Beer JSC saw profit after tax drop from VND47 billion ($1.91 million) in the same period last year to VND36 billion ($1.46 million), while Hanoi-Hai Duong Beer JSC posted post-tax profit of VND7.2 billion ($292,920), down 30% year-on-year.

Vietnam’s leading broker Saigon Securities (SSI) forecast low revenue growth of F&B companies in 2023 as the trend of cutting spending continues. It expected Sabeco to achieve year-on-year net revenue and net profit growth of 13% and 5.3%, respectively, this year.