Accordingly, Vinh Hoan Corporation (VHC), the top tra fish exporter, posted 22.2 per cent jump in its revenue in during the period (H1) reaching $253 million.

Its profit, however, saw 26.5 per cent drop on-year, falling to $20.15 million, in which the gross profit margin just fetched 11.98 per cent, and net accrued profit margin came to 7.96 per cent, falling to a record low compared to 2020-2023.

Aside from narrowed gross profit margin, Vinh Hoan eyed a spike in transportation cost during the period, surging from $2.68 million to $4.18 million.

Truong Thi Le Khanh, chairwoman of the Board of Directors at Vinh Hoan, has attributed continued retreat of their profit to dwindling price of tra fish.

This means the company’s business efficiency had almost halved in H1 compared to the most favourable year of 2022 and extended diminishing trend from 2023 until now.

Similarly, other businesses in the sector such as Nam Viet JSC and International Development and Investment Corporation (IDI) witnessed their revenue going sideways, yet their net profit continued to pull back due to narrowed gross and net profit margins.

Along with this, in H1 Nam Viet JSC saw 0.9 per cent drop in its revenue falling to $92 million, and its profit shed 16.7 per cent on-year to $1.43 million.

Its gross profit margin and net profit margin fell to 11.1 per cent compared to 11.3 per cent on-year ago, and 1.6 per cent compared to 1.9 per cent one year ago.

Besides this, Nam Viet explained that the transportation cost after falling in the first quarter (Q1), had spiked 91.4 per cent in Q2, rising to $789,500 to $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, in the first half IDI saw its revenue slightly going down by 0.7 per cent to $148.5 million, yet its profit took a plunge of 21 per cent on-year falling to $1.2 million.

In which the company’s gross profit margin retreated to 7.68 per cent compared to 8.34 per cent one year ago, and net profit margin fell to 0.81 per cent compared to 1.02 per cent one year ago.

IDI also explained that during the period the company’s transportation cost picked up nearly 40 per cent, surging from $1.47 million to $2.06 million.

Putting eyes on business performance of tra fish exporters, analysts at Viet Dragon Securities suggest that the prospects in the second half focuses on revenue increases as the price of tra fish is more competitive compared to other kinds.

The tra fish price is expected to go up in all markets at year-end peak season, but the increase might not be robust due to still weak global economies.

More glorious prospect is anticipated in 2025 after the Fed might embrace rate cuts starting this September.

Experts at SSI Securities echoed the mindset, saying that consumption would continue growth momentum in H2 as from August to November is often the peak time for tra fish exports, alongside expectation for resumed consumption in the US market.

Figures by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) show that in the first seven months of this year, Vietnam counted nearly $1.09 billion from tra fish export, up 7.7 per cent on-year.

AgroMonitor, an in-depth market analysis firm for the commodity sectors of Vietnam serving the business community, also reported a rebound in tra fish export value in all markets in H1, particularly the US market, in which, despite surging revenue, the price remains low level compared to one year ago..