JWD InfoLogistics Pcl. or JWD has broken records with 2018 revenue of 3.208 billion baht – a leap of more than 32%, a net profit of 252.1 million baht, and a growth of 23% – after using money from asset sale to a trust to expand investment as planned. The success in generating good income and handsome profits resulted in the Board of Directors approving dividend payment from the separate financial statement at the rate of 0.21 baht per share. It also gave the green light for the company to buy 23.66% of shares in the Transimex Corporation, the 3rd largest integrated logistics service provider in Vietnam. JWD executives have set a revenue growth target of 15-20% for 2019.
Dr Eakapong Tungsrisanguan, Chief Financial Officer of JWD InfoLogistics Public Company Limited (JWD),ASEAN top specialized supply chain solutions, revealed that the 2018 performance generated record-breaking revenue that was better than the targeted 10% growth. This was possible because the company used money from the sale of assets to the Industrial Growth Freehold and Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust (AIMIRT) to expand new investments as planned. It included investment to hold a 60% share in Chi Shan Long Feng Food Co., Ltd. (CSLF), a food service company in Taiwan, which began to realise revenue in May last year. In addition, most of the main businesses also expanded which resulted in good overall performance in the past year with income coming from rent and services totaling 3.208 billion baht. This is a growth of 32.4% on the previous year’s earning of 2.423 billion baht, with net profit of 252.1 million baht, and a growth of 23.3% compared to the 204.5 million baht net profit (before recording extra profits from selling assets to the Trust) of the previous year.
The businesses that saw strong growth in the past year were: (1) the cold storage business which earned revenues of 604 million baht, a growth of 34.4% over the previous year, after making continuous recovery from the IUU Fishing yellow card problem of 2017, (2) the transportation business earned revenues of 497.1 million baht, a growth of 31% over the previous year, from increased transport of train carriages, motor vehicles and dangerous goods, (3) the dangerous goods management business earned revenues of 497.3 million baht, a growth of 7.5% over the previous year, (4) the general warehouse business clearly recovered at the end of last year due to LCL warehouse services and clients returning to rent additional space, and (5) the food service business that realised revenues of 399.8 million baht after investment in CSLF last year.
“Although last year the company had expenses in renting back cold storage and document warehouses sold to AIMIRT, but we were still able to operate with decent growth. It shows that we succeeded in using the money to expand investment that generated income and increased profit at a rate that was higher than our spending. This was particularly so with our investment in CSLF where we improved its financial status and increased profitability. In the future it will also help to promote our cold storage business in ASEAN,” Dr Eakapong said.
Therefore, the Board of Directors' meeting approved an annual dividend payment (from a separate financial statement) for 2018 at the rate of 0.21 baht per share, totaling 214.2 million baht, or 78.9% of the separate financial statement. The company has set the list of shareholders who are entitled to receive dividends, record date 8 May 2019, and will pay the dividends on 24 May 2019.
Mr Charvanin Bunditkitsada, Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO of JWD, said that the company plans to continuously expand its business in the ASEAN region to reach all nine countries within 2020. Currently, it has already invested in five countries; Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Indonesia (not including Taiwan). For Singapore and Malaysia, expansion will be done through the network of CJ Logistics which is a partner of JWD from the Republic of Korea. The board has already given approval for the company to buy 23.66% of the shares in the Transimex Corporation, a fully integrated land, sea and air logistics service provider. The company is registered in the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange, Vietnam. JWD is preparing to establish a subsidiary in Vietnam to buy these shares which will require an investment of approximately 527 million baht (about 390 billion Vietnamese dong).
Transimex Corporation was founded in 1983 and is the third largest logistics service provider in Vietnam with a revenue of 3 billion baht last year. Its main business bases are in Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi with storage area of more than 400,000 square metres. The company offers a variety of services such as freight forwarder, international shipping by sea and air, customs clearance, as well as cargo, cold storage and port services. Investing in the Transimex Corporation is an important step and a large investment by JWD which is a big player with high potentials and a strong network that will help it to build a robust business base in Vietnam.
For 2019, the company has set a revenue growth target of 15-20%. JWD is confident that its operations will see continuous growth due to profit sharing from its shareholding proportion in Transimex Corporation starting this year. The food service business is likely to grow rapidly from various value added services for convenience stores and fast food customers in Taiwan. For cold storage, new facilitie (building 8) has been added where robotic systems will be installed in the middle of this year to support the growing demand for rental space and efficiently improve cost reduction while regional warehouse rental and cross border transport are constantly expanding.