Vinh Hoan Seafood (VHC) is the largest Vietnamese pangasius exporter to the UK

New data released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows that Vietnam's pangasius export turnover to the UK in the first half of August 2024 reached 3.5 million USD. Accumulated from the beginning of the year to August 15, 2024, the total pangasius export turnover to the UK reached 38 million USD, down 8% over the same period.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) considers the UK to be one of the important markets, consuming many value-added products from Vietnamese pangasius.

Notably, in the first 7 months of 2024, Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company (Vinh Hoan Seafood, stock code VHC-HHoSE) is the largest pangasius exporter to the UK, accounting for 32% of Vietnam's total pangasius output exported to this market.

In terms of business activities, in the first 6 months of this year, Vinh Hoan Seafood recorded net revenue of VND 6,051 billion, up 22% over the same period last year. However, due to a sharp increase in the cost of goods sold, after-tax profit decreased by 22% to VND 529 billion. Thereby, completing 66% of the profit plan for the whole year.

As analyzed by Industry and Trade Magazine, Vinh Hoan Seafood is still tending to maintain low selling prices to boost output. With this strategy, Rong Viet Securities believes that the export output of pangasius fillets of Vinh Hoan Seafood in the second half of this year will increase by 5% compared to the first half of the year, equivalent to an increase of 25% compared to the same period in 2023.

At the same time, the company's profit margin will gradually improve in the following quarters in the context of recovering selling prices and decreasing prices of animal feed and raw fish.

With the above conditions, Rong Viet Securities forecasts that the parent company's after-tax profit this year of Vinh Hoan Seafood will reach VND 1,193 billion, an increase of 30% compared to 2023.

In addition, Vinh Hoan Seafood is also promoting the development of collagen and gelatin, which helps the company handle by-products in the pangasius processing process while creating products with high added value and closing the production and business value chain.

A Vinh Hoan Aquaculture representative said that utilizing by-products can increase the value of the entire pangasius farming and processing chain of the company by 15-20%.

Rong Viet Securities assessed that Vinh Hoan Aquaculture's Collagen & Gelatin segment will maintain a double-digit CAGR growth rate for the period 2024–2032, higher than the overall growth potential of the collagen market when the company increases factory capacity to meet consumption demand.

Regarding exploiting the UK market, VASEP said that in the period from the beginning of February to the end of July 2024, Vietnam's pagan export turnover to this market continuously decreased. The main reason was the erratic increase and decrease in export prices, although the export volume during this period increased by 8%.

To expand the market in the UK and effectively take advantage of the benefits of the UKVFTA (Vietnam-UUK & Northern Ireland Trade Agreement), pangasius exporting enterprises need to improve technology, enhance product quality, and invest in modern digital marketing tools to widely promote their products, VASEP recommends.