Pornchai Tatiyachaitaweesuk, Chief Commercial Officer of i-Tail Corporation PCL (SET: ITC), revealed to “Kaohoon” that the company will have a board meeting to approve the financial statement for its 3Q24 operations and will announce its earnings through the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 5 November 2024, expecting the earnings to be in line with brokers’ estimations.
Meanwhile, 2024 overall target still maintains at 15% growth from last year that recorded a profit of THB 16,179.50 million, which is in line with the company’s main business expansion after 1H24 total revenue of THB 8,938.70 million and net profit of 1,830.59 million.
Phillip Securities Thailand wrote in its research that i-Tail’s performance in 3Q is expected to have a net profit of THB 873.8 million, a 35.7% increase from the same period a year earlier but dropping 13.4% from the previous quarter. Sales in 3Q are predicted to be at THB 4,571 million, a 14.3% increase from the prior year, and are along with 2Q sales. Although exports to Europe and America experience some delay due to conflict in the Red Sea, and some of 3Q’s budget has to be allocated for factory maintenance, which may push the initial profit down to 26.3%.
Additionally, ITC’s case of not approving THB 11,000 million loan to Thai Union Group PCL (SET: TU), which would lead to a possibility of higher dividend payment. 2024 dividend pay is anticipated to be at THB 0.72 per share after interim dividend had been paid with THB 0.40 per share. The securities firm noted that the loan that did not go to TU may be used to top up its dividend payment in the second half beyond THB 0.32 if 2024 performed as forecasted.
At the end of 2Q24, ITC’s cash flow is as much as THB 15 billion, even after deducting its planned 2025 CAPEX, the company will have the remaining cash flow of nine billion baht.
Additionally, Bualuang Securities stated that ITC’s gross profit margin in 3Q will be the most important factor to push profit surpassing both the company and the market’s earlier estimation, as the director forecasting the gross profit margin to surge from the same period last year’s low base, but decline from the last quarter as there is an extra cost from the new factory. However, that decline will be offset by cheaper material costs.
