Alliance Tuna sees 16% sales growth this year

Alliance Tuna International Inc. (ATII), a leading exporter of canned tuna products, expects sales to grow by 16.73 percent this year to P1.5 billion from P1.285 billion in 2005.

Full-year sales volume, on the other hand, is seen to reach 820 container vans compared with 651 last year.

As of September this year, ATII said sales already reached P1.275 billion while sales volume hit 656 container vans.

For 2007, sales are seen to grow further to P2.08 billion on sales volume of 1,000 container vans.

ATII reported a net income of P55 million last year, slightly lower than the P57 million profit posted in 2004. Gross profit, meanwhile, amounted to P130 million as against P125 million a year ago.

ATII, a joint venture between Filipino and Thai investors, is selling 134 million shares to the public at P1.35 each to finance working capital requirements (P49.89 million), repay debts and acquire equipment (P61.8 million). The offered shares represent 25 percent of the company’s post-offer capital.

The offer price is 10.3 times the company’s earnings forecast this year.

ATII sells around 1.5 million cases of canned tuna products a year, just one percent of the global market of 150 million cases. It operates its facilities in Cagayan de Oro.

The offering will run from Oct. 23 to 30 while the listing of the shares has been set on Nov. 8.

ATII corporate secretary Erlinda Calangi said the company’s decision to list reinforces its strong confidence in the Philippine economy.

Abacus Capital & Investment Corp. is the lead issue manager and underwriter for the offering.

ATII exports mainly to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Middle East. It is eyeing new markets to further augment its revenues.