Xianmei Lai Food Co., a Chinese seafood processor and convenience seafood distributor, has announced a planned initial public offering.
Headquartered in Beihai, a port city in southerly Guangxi Province, Xianmei Lai has built a large distribution network across the country, including in populous inner regions like Henan Province. It is one of a core of Chinese frozen seafood companies tapping into shifting lifestyle patterns and urbanization, along with Fujian Haixin Food Co. and Fujian Anjoy Foods. Xianmei Lai Food distributes more than 120 products under its brands, with seafood hotpot ingredients like shrimp paste and sashimi its top revenue drivers. The company also sells quick-frozen seafood dumplings containing shrimp, ribbonfish, pangasius, and cod.
Xianmei Lai Food is aiming to raise CNY 606 million (USD 96.9 million, EUR 84.8 million) for “seafood industrialization projects, frozen food packaging, and refrigeration and logistics distribution projects,” according to its prospectus, published by brokerage Everbright Securities.
Xianmei Lai took in revenue of CNY 911 million (USD 145 million, 127.5 million) in 2019 and CNY 850 million (USD 136 million, EUR 119 million) in 2020. In the first half of 2021, it recorded CNY 409 million (USD 65.4 million, EUR 57.2 million) in revenue. Its net profit was CNY 89 million (USD 14.2 million, EUR 12.4 million) in 2019, CNY 90.2 million (USD 14.4 million, EUR 12.6 million) in 2020, and CNY 39 million (USD 6.2 million, EUR 5.4 million) in H1 2021.
Seafood prices have been rising in China, primarily due to supply-chain issues, even as the country’s seafood production and consumption both continue to grow. Overall, China’s economy is growing at a slower rate, with growth of 2.3 percent in 2020, and predicted growth of 8 percent in 2021 and 5.3 percent in 2022, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
French investment bank Natixis recently predicted the Chinese economy will “continue to decelerate, although supported by a stimulus sustained on infrastructure spending and targeted monetary easing.”
Photo courtesy of Xianmei Lai Food Co.
