SBH Marine set to ride on growing frozen seafood market

PETALING JAYA: ACE Market-bound SBH Marine Holdings Bhd, which saw the public portion of its initial public offering (IPO) oversubscribed by 27.66 times, is optimistic about its prospects as it is well placed to benefit from the expected growth in frozen seafood market.

SBH Marine attributed this optimism to several factors including the decline in wild fisheries, rising consumer health consciousness, a growing global population and increased consumer prosperity.

The group reported its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended on Dec 31, 2023, recording Rm47.1mil in revenue and Rm4.1mil in earnings.

These figures bring the total revenue for financial year 2023 (FY23) to Rm191.3mil and Rm12.5mil in earnings.

SBH Marine said despite achieving revenue similar to FY22, the group recorded a higher gross profit of Rm32.1mil for FY23 compared with Rm26.6mil for FY22.

“Despite the higher gross profit, the FY23 net profit came in slightly lower at Rm12.5mil.

“This was primarily due to a share of losses from our joint venture, SBH Perak Agro Aquaculture Sdn Bhd, arising from pond maintenance activities performed on one of its shrimp farms during the financial year, which partially disrupted its shrimp cultivation and farming activities,” it said in a statement.

Additionally, SBH Marine said Iporelated expenses totalling RM520,000 were included in the FY23 results.

Managing director Tan Boo Nam said the group managed to improve its FY23 gross profit by about 20%, as it benefited from lower purchase prices of farmed shrimps during the year.

“In the same year, we also undertook a major pond maintenance exercise at our shrimp farm, which affected our bottom line,” he added.

Moving forward, he expected a full recovery of aquaculture shrimp farming activities this year and envisaged its shrimp farming activities to return to profitability.

“Our processing and sale of frozen seafood division showed positive signs of encouragement, particularly in the Asian markets which saw higher demand and contribution to our top line.

“This will bode well with our expansion plans and our upcoming IPO whereby we hope to deliver value to our shareholders in the years to come,” he added.

SBH Marine is set to raise gross proceeds of Rm39.6mil from its IPO, with the lion’s share going towards business expansion.

The group has earmarked about Rm16mil of the proceeds to further develop its aquaculture shrimp farm in Selinsing, Perak, and spend Rm6.5mil to construct a second seafood processing plant in Kuala Krau, Perak.

It would also allocate Rm6.1mil of the proceeds for the purchase of new machinery, equipment and motor vehicles.

The remainder of the proceeds will go towards working capital and listing expenses.

Slated to be listed on April 8, SBH Marine is involved in processing frozen seafood, primarily focusing on shrimps and cephalopods, exporting its products mainly to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The group currently operates a seafood processing plant and two shrimp farms in Kuala Kurau and Selinsing.