SINGAPORE - Food supplier Oceanus enjoyed strong growth in its portfolio businesses as it continued to expand beyond production to distribution and supply chain management in the second half of financial year 2021.
The group posted $4.5 million in net profit for the June to December period of last year, up from just $810,000 during the same period a year earlier.
This came on the back of an increase in revenue to $52.5 million, from $8 million in the year-ago period.
For the full year ended Dec 31, 2021, net profit was $6.5 million, about 11 per cent below the previous year's $7.3 million. This was largely due to expenses incurred as the company ramped up its supply chain and distribution businesses during the first half of last year.
Revenue for the full year rose about 52 per cent to a record $139.7 million, from $92.1 million in financial year 2020.
The company attributed the huge increase in topline numbers to its expansion into the distribution business in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment. This segment alone accounted for $134.5 million in revenue during the year, compared with $85.2 million in 2020.
"This significant increase is part of the group's strategy to boost its global supply chain capabilities, which would then benefit the growth strategies for its other three key segments of food production, services and innovation," the company said in a statement accompanying its results.
Another growing business is its service segment, which contributed $4.3 million in revenue for financial year 2021, compared with $2.9 million in 2020.
The company attributed this to its growing clientele base and projects following its acquisition of marketing consultant and digital media companies Resolute Communications and Anomalyst Studio.
The company's balance sheet was also stronger, with net assets of $32.1 million as at Dec 31 last year, a 12.7 per cent, or $3.6 million, increase from $28.5 million a year ago.
Group chief executive Peter Koh said Oceanus had crossed several milestones over the year, such as with its historic exit from the Singapore Exchange watchlist on Sept 29 last year, as well as in exceeding the $100 million revenue mark for the first time.
"We are looking at very exciting times ahead," he said. "Oceanus is now undergoing its third growth phase, where we are looking to 'tech up' our four business pillars - food production, distribution, services and innovation."
The company's food production pillar has started reaching further down the supply chain through its subsidiary Asia Fisheries and has entered into various transactions with customers within South-East Asia, dealing with fresh, frozen and processed seafood. Some 200,000 tonnes of seafood products were distributed to customers in the region last year, the company said.
Oceanus also inked a contract with a Vietnamese partner in the first quarter of last year to provide seafood to China.
Meanwhile, it has also targeted the Chinese market through its subsidiary, Sino Food Group, which has been appointed as an approved supplier to Chinese state-owned enterprises to provide an average of 100 containers of frozen food to China every month.
"These efforts are part of our strategy to be well-positioned across the entire food supply chain and set the foundation to develop future key aquaculture facilities within the region," Mr Koh said.
He added that Oceanus’ innovation pillar would oversee the company’s transformation into a foodtech enterprise.
"We will be upgrading our e-commerce capabilities and launching a platform - (SG.eMart) - whereby customers will be able to access a wide-ranging portfolio of over 2,000 FMCG and food products."
No dividends were declared.
