Mainboard-listed integrated fish service provider Qian Hu Corporation has reported net profit attributable to shareholders for FY2022 ended December of $1.4 million, down 18.6% y-o-y.
This was on the back of a 5.9% decline in Group revenue to $75.3 million, impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and geopolitical landscape which dampened demand for its fish segment, and China’s zero-Covid-19 policy, which hampered its accessories business.
However, this was mitigated by the resumption of airfreight capacity since June 2022 and reopening of borders during the year, which helped to boost the Group’s aquaculture exports.
As at Dec 31, 2022, the Group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $20.1 million. The Group’s debt-to-equity ratio decreased from 0.48x in FY2021 to 0.40x in FY2022 mainly due to the repayment of bank borrowings.
For FY2022, the Group’s earnings per share was 1.23 Singapore cents, while net asset value per share grew by nearly 2.0% to 43.39 Singapore cents.
The Directors have proposed a first and final dividend of 0.3 Singapore cents per ordinary share, to be paid on April 25.
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Yap Kok Cheng, Qian Hu’s CEO, says: “As we move into FY2023, we envisage that the business environment will be challenging, as we are not certain when and how the Russia-Ukraine war will end and how inflation would pan out globally. However, we are encouraged by China’s recent relaxation of its zero-Covid-19 policy which, we hope, will enable us to resume business activities in the country.”
Yap adds: “Looking ahead, we are encouraged by how our aquaculture business is progressing and we will explore more opportunities to expand the trading of seafood aquaculture products in Southeast Asia. We will also ride on the rising demand of accessories for dogs, cats and small animals by expanding our product range of pet foods, medications and accessories products for export and the domestic markets. We think that the pet accessories segment will be another growth driver for the Group.”
For FY2022, the Group’s fish segment reported a 4.2% y-o-y decline in revenue to $29.1 million. Accessories, meanwhile, posted a 9.0% y-o-y decrease in revenue to $38.1 million over the same period; while the plastics segment reported a 4.0% y-o-y increase in overall sales to $8.0 million for FY2022.
Shares in Qian Hu closed flat at 23 cents on Jan 12.
