SINGAPORE (July 18): Qian Hu Corporation, the integrated service provider of ornamental fish, posted earnings of $25,000 for the quarter ended June 30, up 66.7% from $15,000 a year ago on higher revenue.
This brings the group’s total earnings for the first half of the fiscal year to $61,000, more than double from $27,000 in 1H16.
Revenue for the quarter grew 13.7% to $21.7 million compared to $19.1 million in the previous year due to growth across all of its business segments.
Segment-wise, the group’s ornamental fish revenue improved 7.4% to $8.2 million from $7.6 million in the previous year,
The sale of Dragon Fish notably continued to grow in tandem with higher sales revenue from other ornamental fish in the current quarter, in line with Qian Hu’s efforts to gradually increase its export of ornamental fish in the region.
Revenue from its accessories and plastics segments, too, saw an increase by 20.8% and 8.8% to $10.6 million and $2.9 million, respectively.
This was largely due to a more export-oriental approach to the accessories business, says the group in its filing on Tuesday, as well as an enlarged customer base and product mix which benefited revenue contributions from its plastic activities.
Operating profit grew 16.8% to $222,000 on higher revenue achieved by plastics, coupled with a different sales mix.
Despite the improved profit contribution, the group notes that its growth in profitability was slashed in 2Q due to a reduction in operating profit generated from the ornamental fish business segment as compared to a year ago.
This was because the fish segment was dragged down by initial startup expenses in relation to the group’s new aquaculture business in Hainan, Qian Hu Aquaculture (Hainan), which was set up in Jan 2017 and farms antibiotic-free edible fish.
Noting strong and robust fundamentals, Kenny Yap, executive chairman and managing director of Qian Hu, says results from the group’s efforts of exporting its proprietary accessories products to its existing distribution network and new markets have been encouraging.
“Our ornamental fish segment would have yielded higher levels of profitability if not for the initial start-up expenses for our new aquaculture business in Hainan,” he adds.
"Off to a good start in the last few months, this new business segment hopes to gain excellence in the sustainable farming of edible fish for the massive China consumer market, which has the potential of being many times bigger than our existing ornamental fish business, if executed correctly. We are expecting positive contributions from this new business in 2018."
Shares of Qian Hu closed 2.7% higher at 15 cents on Tuesday.
