HCM CITY — KIDO Group (KDC) has successfully transformed from a confectioner into a food producer, Nguyễn Thị Xuân Liễu, its vice president told the annual shareholders meeting held in HCM City on Friday.

The success has been underlined by the revenues, profits and brand name awareness the company has garnered in the last two current years since switching sectors.

Last year, revenues exceeded the target by 24 per cent to top VNĐ2.2 trillion. Profit before tax was more than VNĐ1.5 trillion.

The year also marked Tường An Vegetable Oil Company becoming a subsidiary and contributing 43.7 per cent of the group’s profit.

Ice-cream and yoghurt contributed over 45 per cent after achieving sales growth of 30 per cent.

Plan for 2017

Talking about plans for 2017 Liễu said the group’s ambition was to produce “all products and foods needed for a kitchen."

In addition to cooking oil, KDC would also produce chilli sauce and other cooking sauces, beverages, fresh and organic foods and chill foods.

Trần Lệ Nguyên, president of KDC, said the group was involved in M&A negotiations with big players to widen its business scope by the end of this year.

A new chilli sauce it would produce in co-operation with a Thai partner was set to hit the market by the end of the third quarter, he said.

This year the company entered the processed food sector by buying a 50 per cent stake in Dabaco Foodstuffs Processing Co., Ltd, which produces chill goods, canned goods, meat rolls.

In 2017, KDC targets revenues of VNĐ7.7 trillion, a 3.4-fold rise from last year.

Of this, some VNĐ5.8 trillion will come from packaged goods and VNĐ1.9 trillion from frozen foods.

The profit target is VNĐ490 billion, VNĐ240 billion from packaged goods and VNĐ250 billion from frozen foods.

To attract more foreign investors, KDC announced it would raise its foreign ownership ratio cap from the current 49 per cent to 100 per cent. The decision was approved at the shareholders meeting on Friday and will be soon carried out.

KIDO used to be one of the biggest confectionery producer in the country. Two years ago, it sold its main stake of snack business to a foreign company. The acquisition completed last year. 

To expand their business in food industry, the company had bought cooking oil companies including Tường An Vegetable Oil Company. The company targets to become leader in food producing industry with distribution system installed in the whole country and to foreign markets. — VNS