SABECO spends $42 million on cash dividend advances

According to its latest financial statement, in the fourth quarter of 2022, SABECO reported revenue of more than $439 million, a sharp increase compared to the first three quarters of 2022 and up 11.4 per cent on-year.

Sales expenses increased by more than 70 per cent on-year to $70 million, mainly in the form of advertising, marketing, and promotions. Therefore, SABECO's after-tax profit stood at $46.8 million, down 23 per cent on-year.

Throughout 2022, SABECO's net revenue reached $1.53 billion, an increase of nearly 33 per cent compared to 2021, equivalent to an average of more than $4.2 million per day. After-tax profit reached $239 million, the highest since the brand belonged to Thai owners at the end of 2017.

SABECO set a revenue target of $1.5 billion and an after-tax profit of $200 million for the year. With the above results, the company has exceeded the target set forth in 2022.

The brewer's total assets at the end of 2022 were valued at $1.5 billion, up 13 per cent and equivalent to an increase of nearly $174 million compared to the beginning of the year. Of this, cash, cash equivalents, and bank deposits made up $1 billion, accounting for 68 per cent of total assets, which generated nearly $44.5 million in deposit interest last year. The company also poured $113 million into joint ventures, associations, and other deals, most of which were with beer companies.

ThaiBev spent $4.8 billion acquiring 54 per cent of SABECO's stake in 2017.

Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, CEO of ThaiBev Group said, “Sabeco is our jewel, a rare asset among all the brewers in the region.”

Currently, Vietnam is the largest beer consumption market in Southeast Asia, worth $26 billion, and ranked third in Asia after China and Japan in 2021.

SABECO leaders aim to improve the competitiveness and profitability of the company by starting phase two of their transformation process. The next phase will focus on six key pillars, including sales, branding and marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, people, and unlocking potential, which are supported by the SABECO 4.0 project and other governance initiatives.

In its 2023 target, SABECO will expand both its domestic and international markets, firmly build a product portfolio to meet consumption trends, and restructure the distribution system to improve the process of bringing products to consumers.

The company also expects consumption in 2023 to recover to pre-COVID levels. Specifically, the industry's output growth is forecast to stand at 5-10 per cent in 2023 and 3-7 per cent in 2024.

In an analysis report on SAB shares, SSI Securities said that SABECO's revenue and profit in the first half of 2023 may grow more than in the same period last year thanks to the resumption of all services, hotels, restaurants, entertainment facilities, and foreign tourism. Therefore, SSI Research expects SABECO's net revenue in 2023 to reach $1.68 billion and net profit to stand at $274 million, up 12.9 and 7 per cent on-year respectively.