Ms. Pinyada Saengsakdaharn, Head of Investor Relations from Thai Union Group Public Company Limited (SET: TU), stated that the company has lowered its annual revenue target from 1 – 3% growth YoY to 1 – 2% contraction YoY due to the 19% tariff that the U.S. imposed on Thailand and the appreciation of Thai baht.
However, TU raised its projection for an annual gross profit margin from 18 – 19% to 18.5 – 19.5% due to the decrease of raw material cost and the increase of cost and expense management’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, the selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) to sales is at 13.5 – 14%.
Additionally, TU also increased this year’s CAPEX from THB 3 – 3.5 billion to THB 3.5 – 4 billion as some of the company’s projects must be invested within this year or it will be a missed opportunity to capture future growth.
Ms. Pinyada stated that TU found the 19% U.S. tariff acceptable as it still allows Thailand to compete with its neighboring countries. Moreover, besides Thailand and Vietnam, the company also has manufacturing plants for its ambient seafood at Ghana and Seychelles, the two countries that faced the U.S. tariffs of 15% and 22.5%, respectively.
Additionally, TU still has capability to continue manufacturing ambient seafood in Thailand and import to the U.S. and the EU, or to relocate to countries that face low tariff rates.
As for the frozen food business, Thailand’s competitiveness is ranked second compared to the market’s main players, such as Ecuador, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam, similar to the situation in the pet food business as Thailand can still compete with main players like Vietnam and China due to the low tariff rate.
TU speculated that its 2H25 performance will surpass its 1H25 performance due to the growth of its third quarter sales compared to the second quarter. Furthermore, the company estimated that its third and fourth quarter gross profit margin will maintain at 18.5 – 19.5% due to the stabilization of raw material cost, especially the cost of salmon, shrimp, and tuna.
TU also has a large quantity of low cost tuna in the stock and has seen the rising demand from various nations as the details of the U.S. tariff became clear.
Regarding Mitsubishi Corporation’s proposal to increase its shareholding proportion by 532.27 million shares to 20%, about 13.81% increase, with share priced at THB 12.50 per share, TU confirmed that the development will not change its management structure, and its major shareholder and operation process will remain the same.
TU also plans to have a long term strategic collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation and advance its global seafood business capability as the two companies often have collaborated on multiple occasions, including the collaboration in frozen shrimp, frozen & chilled salmon, and pet food business.
