Thai Union Group reported full-year 2022 revenue growth of 10.3% to a record high of 155.6 billion baht, driven by petcare and seafood.
Full-year gross profit rose 5.8% to 27.2 billion baht, while net profit dipped 10.9% to 7.1 billion baht.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, sales increased 2.9% to 39.6 billion baht. Operating profit rose 20.6% to 2.4 billion baht.
However, Thai Union was able to deliver a half-year dividend of 0.44 baht per share, bringing the full-year dividend to 0.84 baht per share.
The company continues to deliver a consistent payout with a highly attractive yield at 5.3%.
Ambient seafood sales grew 12.8% year-on-year in 2022 thanks to higher selling prices and continued strong demand, particularly across Asia and the US, amid the launch of new and innovative products.
The petcare segment maintained its strong momentum, with sales rising 48% from a year earlier to 21.7 billion baht on the back of robust demand and higher selling prices.
"Amid unforeseen global economic challenges such as high inflation and volatile foreign exchange, Thai Union was able to deliver a strong performance and record sales," said Thiraphong Chansiri, chief executive of Thai Union.
"Our core businesses remain a key focus, but we continue to further diversify our portfolio of products to appeal to new customers across Asia, Europe and North America," he said.
"We also continue to develop value-enhancing businesses across our ingredients, supplements and alternative protein units, where we are unlocking new and innovative products that will be essential to our future growth."
Ambient seafood led sales during 2022, accounting for 43% of total revenue, followed by frozen and chilled seafood with 36%, petcare with 14%, up from 10% in 2021, and value-added and other businesses with 7%.
The fast-growing petcare business is becoming increasingly important to Thai Union's operations and in 2022 the i-Tail Corporation subsidiary was successfully listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand -- the largest ever initial public offering in the food and beverage category.
The spinoff of the petcare business was the key driver in Thai Union's net-debt-to-equity ratio improving to 0.54x at the end of 2022, compared to 0.99x in 2021.
In terms of geographical diversity, sales in the US and Canada accounted for 44% of total revenue, followed by 26% from Europe, 11% from Thailand and 19% from others.
During 2022, Thai Union continued to pursue opportunities that offer potential strong growth for the firm. This included a C$10 million investment in Mara Renewables Corporation, one of the world's leading producers of sustainably grown algae-based bioproducts.
"Inflation will remain a major challenge across all the markets we operate in during 2023," said Mr Thiraphong.
"However, I am confident that management's focus on long-term strategies, fiscal discipline and business diversification will ensure we maintain strong growth momentum well into the future. Thai Union is aiming for 2023 sales growth of 5-6% year-on-year and will scale up capital expenditure to 6-6.5 billion baht," he said.
