i-Tail’s sales drop 35% in Q3: forecasts upward trend in Q4
The subsidiary of tuna multinational Thai Union acknowledges the impact caused by the softened demand from customers in Southeast Asia.
Bangkok-headquartered i-Tail hit sales of THB 4 billion ($112.5M/€105M) between July and September 2023, 35% less than during the same period in 2022.
The manufacturer described 2023 as their “most challenging year” so far, as it saw its net profit drop by 56% to THB 645 million ($18M/€16.9M) in Q3.
CEO Pichitchai Wongpiya told investors that the situation was driven by inventory destocking and softening customer demand since the beginning of the year.
Better performance than Q2
But compared to the year’s second quarter, revenue increased by 23%. Net profit also shot up by 45%.
Cat food and pet treats saw 27.4% and 44.2% quarterly growth, respectively, due to “key customers restocking, inventory level normalizing, new project pipelines and higher selling prices.”
Optimistic forecast
i-Tails says it sees “positive signs” in the pet food industry and expects an “upward trend” in the fourth quarter of 2024. The firm forecasts sales growth of 15% per year between 2023 and 2025.
“Our core strategies strictly adhere to contributing to new product development through innovation and world-class standard technology, growing private labels, catering to demand from pet specialty chains and capitalizing on the product premiumization trend growing in the U.S. and Europe,” concludes Wongpiya.
Earlier in the year, i-Tail announced a $2.5 million (€2.34M) investment to expand its business in China and Europe.
