Sao Ta Food plans to buy back 2 million treasury shares hinh anh 1Sao Ta Food JSC raises and processes prawn and shrimp to sell to Japan, the US and Canada.(Photo: tinnhanhchungkhoan)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Sao Ta Food, (FMC), a subsidiary of Pan Group, plans to buy back two million treasury shares through order matching and negotiation.

As of March 16, FMC shares closed at 19,800 VND (0.86 USD) on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, so the firm was expected to pay 39.6 billion VND for the shares.

According to the firm, the transaction time would be within 30 days after the day the State Securities Commission approved the share buyback.

At the beginning of February, before the pandemic was announced, the firm mentioned: “The Chinese market only plays a small proportion, so the impact is not too large.”

As the pandemic has spread and affected many countries, the worst-case scenario for seafood exporters including Sao Ta was visible.

Recently, FMC stock has plummeted to the bottom of more than one year. Compared to the beginning of 2020, FMC shares have decreased by 28 percent.

Last year, Sao Ta Food's revenue decreased by 100 billion VND compared to 2018, to close at 3.7 trillion VND. Thanks to the sharp cut in cost, its profit before tax still reached 236 billion VND, exceeding 31 percent of the annual plan, profit after tax reached nearly 230 billion VND, an increase of 27 percent compared to the profit achieved in 2018.

Based in the southern province of Soc Trang, Sao Ta engaged in farming and processing prawn and shrimp. Its products are mostly sold in Japan, the United States and Canada.

In 2018, Vietnamese agriculture and food company PAN Group JSC registered to buy nearly 4.8 million shares of Sao Ta at 30,000 VND each to raise its holding in the firm to 45 percent.

As per the latest data, PAN Group JSC and its members held 68.5 percent of the stake in Sao Ta./.
VNA