Hai Con Tom instant noodle brand posts its lowest pretax profit in four years

Sales continued to rise, but last year's profit of the Hai Con Tom instant noodle company fell sharply to 26 billion dong, the lowest level since Covid-19 due to land rent expenses. According to the newly released audited financial statements, Colusa - Miliket Foodstuff Co. (referred to as Comifood) reported revenue up 8% year-on-year to over 800 billion dong, the highest on record. Most of the revenue came from the domestic market, with exports accounting for about 90 billion dong. Despite intense competition, production and sales volumes continued to grow steadily thanks to brand recall marketing for Hai Con Tom, plus the opening of new sales channels and diversification of product lines. The company maintained a stable position in niche segments, especially in traditional distribution channels such as markets and eateries. Last year, rising raw material costs pushed the gross profit margin below 27%. This means for every 100 dong of revenue, the company earned about 27 dong before selling expenses and staff wages. The company reported a pretax profit of 26 billion dong, down 11% from the previous year and short of the 29 billion dong plan set earlier. This is the lowest level in four years; if excluding 2021 results affected by the pandemic, the figure would be the lowest in eight years. The volatility was mainly due to the company paying more than 6 billion dong in land rent for the 2015-2020 period. Colusa - Miliket is the company that owns the Hai Con Tom instant noodle brand. The brand has been on the market since before 1975, with kraft packaging favored by consumers and at times nearly monopolizing domestic market share. The company’s greatest value has been identified by a consumer of M&A advisory as lying in the nostalgic brand, tied to memories of many generations, building trust and loyalty among a specific customer base. Speaking about last year’s business performance, Mr. Tran Hoang Ngan – CEO of Comifood – said the company’s production capacity had reached its maximum. While competitors continuously expand, the company at times had to decline orders. The main reason is that the company’s sole plant in Thu Duc (Ho Chi Minh City) had reached full capacity but could not increase output. Caption: A worker producing instant noodles at Colusa - Miliket Foodstuff Joint Stock Company in Thu Duc, March 2025. Photo: Quynh Trần.