Vietnam’s leading pangasius company, Vinh Hoan, has earned lower net profit in the first quarter of this year due to dual impact from the falling pangasius prices and the outbreak of the COVID-19, according to its first-quarter results.
The company’s after-tax profit in the first three months was at VND 152 billion (USD 6.45 million, EUR 6 million), a decline of 50.5 percent from the same period last year.
Vinh Hoan also saw its net revenue dive 8.6 percent year-on-year to VND 1.64 trillion (USD 70 million, EUR 64.2 million) in the first quarter, it said.
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade in a report released earlier this month the COVID-19 crisis has put negative pressure on the prices and exports of pangasius in the Mekong Delta. The rates stood at between VND 17,600 and VND 18,000 (USD 0.75 to 0.76, EUR 0.69 to 0.70) per kilogram for size of 0.7 to 0.9 kilogram-sized fish in An Giang Province in the week ending 16 April.
The prices were about 35 percent lower year-on-year and 2.2 percent lower than the previous week. The rates for fish of the bigger size of more than 1 kilogram/fish were even lower, at between VND 17,000 to 17,500 (USD 0.72 to 0.74, EUR 0.66 to 0.68) per kilogram.
Separately, Vinh Hoan said it held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new food grade refined fish oil factory in the Chau Thanh District of Dong Thap Province on 11 April.
The groundbreaking ceremony was organized during Vietnam’s social distancing order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 which lasted from 1 to 15 April.
A representative of Vinh Hoan told SeafoodSource on 22 April the company received permission from the provincial government before holding the ceremony. He said the ceremony was strictly limited to attendance of only a few people within the company, and complied with all safety standards required by local authorities during the pandemic.
The new project is expected to add more value to Vinh Hoan’s supply chain via the utilization of pangasius byproducts, following the launch of its collagen and gelatin factory in 2015, it said.
The plant, which is designed to produce 100 metric tons (MT) of raw material per day, is scheduled to begin operational in the third quarter of this year.
"The main value differentiation of this factory are the unique low trans-fat technique via a fully automatic system and the real-time data collection system which provides the most accurate result," the company said.
Photo by Toan Dao/Shutterstock
