The share price of Exotic Foods Public Company Limited (mai: XO) rose 10% to settle the morning session on December 23, 2024, at THB21.80 per share, following the speculation that the price has bottomed out and will recover next year with the company’s expansion plans.
Jittiporn Jantarach, Managing Director at XO, said earlier that the company bottomed out in 4Q24, causing the company not reaching its forecasted goal for the overall performance in 2024, which has already been well-noted by investors.
Despite the slowdown in 2024, the company plans to expand its production line in 2025, which would help bring the company’s performance back to strength.
The company expected revenue in 2025 to grow 15% from 2024. Additionally, the Thai baht has weakened to THB 34.57 per dollar, a higher number than the company’s expectation of THB 30-33. Thus the weak baht would help push the company’s exchange rate up.
Meanwhile, Pi Securities stated in a report to XO that even if the company’s 4Q24 performance still shows signs of slowing down further, the world hot sauce market valued at $24 billion (THB 800 billion) gave plenty of expansion opportunity for XO, according to IMR report on December 2024.
Furthermore, the dividend policy by XO for 2H24 is expected to return to 50% of net profit after the THB 1.7 per share special payment during 1H24. As such, the brokers recommended “buy” at a target price of THB 29.00 per share.
