Exotic Food Public Company Limited

Jittiporn Chantarat, Chief Executive Officer of Exotic Food Public Company Limited, or XO, disclosed that operating results in the second half of 2026 will accelerate clearly, with third-quarter 2026 sales expected to grow about 12-15%, while the fourth quarter of 2026 also remains on a good trend thanks to forward orders of about five weeks. This gives the company confidence that full-year 2026 sales will grow 10% as planned, despite expenses of about 70-80 million baht for destroying chilies. The main driver comes from the European market, where customer inventories have declined and sales have clearly recovered, while the US market has remaining sales of less than 10 million baht, down from more than 500 million baht in 2023 and less than 100 million baht in 2024, meaning US import tariff measures have no significant impact. As for the investment plan for a new factory, it will use about 1.3 billion baht, with roughly 70% borrowed from financial institutions and the rest from cash flow. It is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2028 and to begin exports from the third quarter of 2028. The new factory will replace the old plant and support sales of about 4.2 billion baht when operating two shifts, with potential to rise to about 8 billion baht. For 2027, the company plans a marketing budget of about 5% of sales, expects sales to continue growing 5-10%, and aims to raise its gross profit margin to about 45% from 40%.

Globlex Securities Company Limited, or GBS, has upgraded its recommendation on Exotic Food Public Company Limited, or XO, from "Hold" to "Speculative Buy" and raised its fair value from 15.60 baht to 19.20 baht, based on a prospective P/E ratio of 16.2x, up from 11.4x, and forecast earnings per share for 2026 of about 1.26 baht per share. Wilasinee Boonmasoongson, Assistant Managing Director at GBS, said XO reported second-quarter 2026 profit of 110 million baht, contracting 35% year-on-year and 15% quarter-on-quarter, on revenue of 589 million baht, down 4% year-on-year but up 13% quarter-on-quarter. Customers in Europe accounted for about 83% of core revenue, and the company has gained a new distributor in France. Gross margin fell from 45.4% in the first quarter of 2026 to 39.1%, due to a 60 million baht write-off of pickled chili raw materials; excluding that item, margin would be around 48-49%. The research team expects second-half 2026 revenue to grow at least 10% on accelerating European orders and the French distributor, and estimates margin will hold steady in a range of 47-49%. It has raised its 2026 revenue forecast from 2.26 billion baht to 2.37 billion baht, a rise of 10% year-on-year. Meanwhile, a new factory with an investment value of 1.3 billion baht is expected to begin construction in the third quarter of 2026, with an estimated 900-1,000 million baht in borrowing.

Exotic Food Public Company Limited, or XO, is signalling a second-half recovery from Europe, its main market, with full-year 2026 revenue expected to grow about 10% from the previous year and third-quarter growth continuing clearly from the second quarter. Chief Executive Officer Jittiporn Jantarach said Europe accounted for about 83% of sales revenue in the second quarter of 2026, and the company aims to expand its distribution points in Germany from around 5,000 branches to 8,000 branches. It is also allocating 1.29948 billion baht to build a new factory in Rojana Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Chonburi province, to support overseas demand, with the investment structure planned at about 70% from loans and about 30% from cash. Second-quarter 2026 results showed sales revenue of 582.76 million baht, up 12.74% from the previous quarter, and net profit of 109.77 million baht, down 35.44% from the same period last year. For the first six months, revenue was 1.09966 billion baht, up 0.76%, while net profit was 238.48 million baht, down 15.79%, including total inventory write-down losses of 74.55 million baht. The board approved an interim dividend of 0.378 baht per share, with the stock trading ex-dividend on 24 August 2026, a record date of 25 August 2026, and dividend payment on 9 September 2026.