Fish-feed company Thailuxe to branch into energy sector next year
Thailuxe Enterprises, a producer of feed for aquatic animals and of frozen food, is planning to invest more than Bt600 million to expand into the energy business next year, company chairman Anurot Seneepakonkai said.
Meanwhile, the company expects revenue to grow by around 40 per cent this year thanks to the recovery from last year’s poorly performing shrimp market and the contribution from a new plant, he said.
The company produces, sells and exports feed for fish, shrimp and pets and also frozen food, and does fish farming.
Anurot said the company planned to set aside around Bt600 million to penetrate the energy market, probably renewable energy. After that, it expects the new energy business to contribute half of its revenue.
Currently, Thailuxe’s feed business contributes 70 per cent of revenue, followed by frozen food with 20 per cent and fish farming with 10 per cent. Of the feed products, 60 per cent of the revenue is from fish feed, and 20 per cent each from shrimp feed and pet food. "The shrimp market was very poor last year, so we had to do something to keep the damage under control," he said. The company plans to decrease the contribution of shrimp feed to less than 15 per cent and increase that of pet food to more than 25 per cent next year. The plan has been in action since the shrimp-market slowdown last year.
Meanwhile, the company recently held the opening ceremony of its new plant in Songkhla province. The plant can produce around 13,000 tonnes per year of fish, shrimp, and pet feed, equal to the production capacity of the existing plant in Phetchaburi province.
Thailuxe exports its feed products to Malaysia and Indonesia, while its frozen food including fish and shrimp is exported to the Middle East, Europe and Canada.
"We are confident that the contribution of the new factory and the market recovery will result in revenue of more than Bt3 billion, or around 40-per-cent growth from last year," Anurot said.
Before the slump last year, the company enjoyed revenue of Bt3.2 billion in 2012 and Bt2.5 billion in 2013. Its revenue last year was Bt2.1 billion, and in the first half of this year was around Bt900 million.
In the first quarter of this year, the company reported revenue of Bt453.83 million and net profit of Bt10.15 million.
Thailuxe targets revenue growth of around 15-20 per cent in each of the next three years.
