Sugar firms eye sweet outcomes

In the second quarter (Q2) of this year, Quang Ngai Sugar JSC, counted $137 million in revenue and $43.3 million in accrued profit, up 43 per cent and 52 per cent on-year, respectively.

During the period, its net profit approximated $30.9 million, nearly double compared to similar period last year.

In the first half of this year, QNS posted $229.6 million in revenue and $44.6 million in net profit, up 32 per cent and 90 per cent on-year, respectively. With such figures, the company has fulfilled full-year profit target.

Similarly, Son La Sugar JSC raked in $23.9 million in revenue and $9.78 million in post-tax profit in the fourth quarter of 2022-2023 season, up 152 per cent in revenue and nearly four-fold on profit on-year.

SLS posted $72.8 million in revenue and $22.7 million in post-tax profit, up 93 per cent and 178 per cent compared to the previous season, setting a record profit in the company’s development and surpassing 597 per cent over the projection.

At Kon Tum Sugar JSC (KTS), the company counted $12.5 million in revenue and $1.03 million in post-tax profit in Q4 of the 2022-2023 season, up six to seven times on-year.

For the whole season, KTS counted $23.8 million in revenue and $1.6 million in post-tax profit, up 210 per cent in revenue and $375 per cent in post-tax profit compared to the previous season.

Nguyen Trong Dinh Tam, senior stock expert, said that as QNS or SLS were production firms in the sugar sector value chain, a spiking sugar price was beneficial to these firms.

Other sugar firms, such as Lam Son Sugar JSC (LSS) or Thanh Thanh Cong-Bien Hoa Sugar JSC, which are also strong sugar traders, have seen their businesses inevitably bears the brunt of the anti-dumping tax policy.

“In the second half of this year, I believe the positive trend will prevail for sugar firm groups, particularly sugar producers. The global sugar price in H2 might stall after a spike early in the year, yet impacts from soaring prices could bring positive results to sugar firm profit pictures in H2,” said Tam.

Attuned to upbeat performance of sugar firms, their respective share prices have boomed, with better cash flow at the companies.

Tam said that the sugar sector was affected by the upward trend in prices earlier than other sectors. These tickers resumed the growth trend from early April, meanwhile the stock market resumed an upward trend from late May.

After the recent price upward wave, QNS and SLS reached their new historic peak in prices, while those of KTS and LSS also eyed growth from 20 to 40 per cent in price.

The price boom of sugar firms amid upbeat performances has been largely attributable to positive sugar price movement.

The sugar price averaged VND26,000 ($1.13) per kg in June compared to just VND18,000 (78 US cents) in Q1 of this year, up more than 40 per cent.

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