Ichitan announces growth amid the crisis of the fiscal year 2021 with a 546.8 million Baht profit and a sales revenue of 5,228.3 million Baht, highlighting the domestic sales growth, especially in the Traditional Trade market from the popular green tea beverage category, a 73% revenue jump for the OEM business, and a profit of Ichitan Indonesia that was above expectations from Thai tea as a highlight. To reward the shareholders, the company's board approves a 0.50 baht/share dividend to be paid on May 23 and reiterates its confidence for 2022 by preparing to launch cool collaborations with leading brands and the launch of new products in the CBD category, continuing to expand the business according to the 3N strategy, targeting revenue for this year to reach 6,500 million Baht.
Mr. Tan Passakornnatee, CEO of Ichitan Group Public Company Limited (ICHI), discloses the operating results for the year 2021 (ended December 31, 2021) with a net profit of 546.8 million Baht, an increase of 6.1% from 515.5 million Baht in the previous year, gross profit margin of 19.3%, net profit margin of 10.5%, and sales revenue of 5,228.3 million Baht, an increase of 2.5% from 5,099.3 million Baht in the previous year. The Board of Directors meeting approves the payment of dividends in cash from 2021 operating results and retained earnings at the rate of 0.50 baht per share. The record date of dividend eligibility will be May 6, and the dividend will be paid on May 23, 2022.
The overview of business in 2021 is another challenging year for marketing amid the COVID pandemic situation over the past 2 years, which has affected the overall purchasing power in the country. To retain its stronghold, Ichitan thrived to be the number one in popularity by pushing green tea products with the tastes that consumers are confident in, with reasonable size and price. Coupled with some support in the traditional trade market from government measures to stimulate the economy, it can achieve performance growth in both revenue and profit.
In addition, the OEM business has seen revenue growth of 73% resulting from the trust of partners, which are leading companies both domestically and internationally, which helped support the utilization rate. Meanwhile, Ichitan Indonesia has been successful, with a recognized profit share of 59 million Baht, which was above expectations, from the success of Thai tea products, which is a cash cow category that can drive profits to a great extent with outstanding products and different flavors.
For the year 2022, even though the production costs may be more or less affected by the economic situation, Ichitan is trying to adjust its production management plan to control costs more effectively so as not to affect the consumers and sets a revenue target to reach 6,500 million Baht following the laid down strategies of pushing the flagship popular flavor of green tea with a proactive marketing plan and collaboration with leading brands to emphasize the number one refreshing taste to liven up the market in Q2/2022.
In addition, it continues to grow under the 3N strategy (New Product, New Market, and New Business), whereas the new product with expected evidence is the entry into the hemp or CBD beverage market, which is promising after the step-by-step opening up of the laws, and the market penetration into the carbonated soft drink (CSD) market, which is in the final stage of machine preparation to launch new trendy drinks to expand into new categories and segments in worth-watching new markets.
Moreover, to drive a more comprehensive traditional trade channel, Ichitan prepares to launch a niche campaign for merchants who buy in a carton for shop sale, as well as to satisfy consumers in the new era who turn to online shopping through continuing awareness creation of online sales via https://ichitanoneshop.com/ , and by collaborating with partners in various online sales platforms to grow together in all channels.
Regarding new business, Ichitan announced a new business venture at the beginning of the year of investment in Predictive Co., Ltd. to use big data as the key to drive business through consumer data marketing analytics and the establishment of a joint venture company to drive digital organization transformation strategy for sustainable growth.