German financial firm buys into TTCSugar

According to TTCSugar, the investment made by the German development finance institution DEG, a subsidiary of Frankfurt-based state-owned development bank KfW, will be disbursed in September, helping bolster TTCSugar’s chartered capital to VND6,084 billion ($265 million), up by 3.7 per cent.

At the price of VND30,000 ($1.30) a piece, 84 per cent premium to TTCSugar share value at the closing session on July 25, the preferred stocks offered to DEG comes on a maximum term of 6.5 years, with a fixed dividend rate of 5.5 per cent a year in the first 1.5 years and on negotiable rates between the two parties in the following years.

These stocks also include an option for DEG to convert them into common shares, on prices to be agreed by both parties at the time of the convertible transaction and not to exceed VND38,000 ($1.65) a share.

The capital raised is aimed at backing TTCSugar’s subsidiary TTC Attapeu in Laos, the sugar business that it took over from Hoang Anh Gia Lai Sugar in 2017. In particular, TTCSugar will be spending the fund to mechanise and expand the organic sugar production at the plant.

TTC Attapeu plant is capable of processing 7,500 tonnes of sugarcane and producing 700 tonnes of sugar a day on the sugarcane field of 7,000 hectares located in the province of Attapeu, Laos.

TTC Attapeu developed its first organic farm on an area of approximately 2,640 hectares in Lao. Last year, its organic sugar was given a green light to export to the tough market of EU. The company has signed an agreement to export 4,500 tonnes of organic sugar to the EU.

Apart from Laos, in 2019, TTCSugar has also set foot in Cambodia as part of its attempt to strengthen the sustainable development of its sugarcane fields in the Indochina region, with the targeted area added up to 70,000 hectares.

As per TTCSugar’s consolidated financial statement for the first quarter of 2019 (quarter three of its 2018-2019 financial year), TTCSugar reported VND2.519 trillion ($109.52 million) in revenue, a drop of 8.2 per cent on-year. Its post-tax profit added up to VND288.99 billion ($12.56 million), a boost of 104 per cent on-year.