Mr. Jittiporn Jantarach, Managing Director of Exotic Food Public Company Limited, has revealed that the company plans to expand its production line to support increasing purchasing orders that can generate around 1,000 million baht in revenue each year.
Listed in the alternative stock market in Thailand, Exotic Food (mai: XO) reported an outstanding 3Q23 financial results earlier this week with net profit growing more than 2.5 times from the previous year to record at 250 million baht. The increase was mainly due to higher sales in the third quarter as well as an increase in gross profit margin.
The MD said in an interview with “Kaohoon” that XO’s topline was in line with its guidance to reach a record high in the third quarter. The company saw its net profit growing 260% year-on-year (YoY), which was higher than its revenue growth of 112%. This was due to the recognition of higher gross profit margin from its dipping sauce segment that is now attribute to 88% of its revenue, according to Mr. Jittiporn.
XO has been taking advantage of economies of scale to boost its performances as net profit is now about eight times higher than when it first listed in the stock exchange in 2014. The production of the company is performing well as the utilization rate (U-rate) is now over 150% from XO’s strategy to run the machine with second shift workers.
Mr. Jittiporn hinted that XO’s topline in the fourth quarter is expected to be moderately higher than the third, which could imply that the U-rate can surpass the current level of 150%. If XO can maintain the same level of production throughout next year, the market is surely to see another record high from the Thai dipping sauce producer.
The MD also added that the original plan of XO is to build a new production plant next year, which is expected to be complete and ready by the end of 2025. However, there is overflowing demand for XO’s products to the point that orders could overwhelm its production capacity.
Due to this reason, Mr. Jittiporn revealed to “Kaohoon” that the company is making another plan to expand its production line within the existing plant in Amata Industrial Area with an investment of 200 million baht.
With this addition to XO’s current line up, the MD expected to add about 1,000 million baht in revenue annually, based on one work shift. This is expected to be completed by the end of next year, which is one year ahead of its original plan for the new production plant.