22 Oct 2025

Leong Hup International’s three-year profit surge

The poultry group posts rapid profit growth on strong regional performance.

Jess Ramanee

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Malaysia’s Leong Hup International has recorded exceptional earnings momentum, earning its first The Edge Billion Ringgit Club corporate award for the highest profit-after-tax growth over three years in the consumer products and services sector.

The integrated poultry group achieved a record net profit of USD 95 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024), a steep climb from USD 19 million in FY2021, USD 49 million in FY2022, and USD 67 million in FY2023 — representing a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 71%.

Earnings remained strong in the first half of FY2025, rising 25.5% year-on-year to USD 43 million, although revenue eased 8.9% to USD 964 million, largely due to lower selling prices in Indonesia.

Regional footprint and supply-chain integration

Leong Hup operates across Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, with a vertically integrated business model covering livestock feed production, poultry breeding, broiler and layer farming, further-processed poultry, and quick-service restaurants.

As of end-FY2024, the group’s total production capacity reached 4.41 million tons annually, including 2.65 million tons of feed sales volume. It runs five feed mills each in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, plus one in the Philippines. Broiler chickens produced in Malaysia are also exported to Singapore.

Leong Hup’s egg operations are managed through Teo Seng Capital, its 55%-owned subsidiary, which was similarly recognized for its three-year profit-after-tax growth in 2025.

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Expanding consumer reach

As part of its downstream integration strategy, Leong Hup operates consumer-facing quick-service chains such as Baker’s Cottage in Malaysia, LH Deli in the Philippines, and Sunny Chick in Indonesia, focusing on ready-to-eat poultry products.

In H1 FY2025, Indonesia contributed 37% of group revenue, followed by Malaysia (27%) and Vietnam (18%).

Operational resilience and margin expansion

Corn and soybean meal remain Leong Hup’s primary feed ingredients. Despite cost fluctuations, the group has maintained margin stability — its profit-before-tax margin expanded to 8.2% in FY2024, up from 5.8% in FY2023 and 3.6% in FY2022.

With geopolitical uncertainties and potential tariff shifts on agricultural commodities, the company emphasized a prudent approach to resource management while remaining optimistic about long-term demand growth for poultry and eggs across its Southeast Asian markets.

Industry outlook and financial position

Analysts at RHB Research expect Leong Hup’s earnings to normalize from the exceptional FY2024 base, citing the previous year’s benefit from a softer US dollar and a low effective tax rate.

Even so, they note that industry fundamentals have strengthened, with smaller players exiting post-pandemic and during recent commodity super-cycles — a trend favoring large, integrated producers like Leong Hup.

The group’s balance sheet continues to strengthen, with net gearing reduced to 0.43 times in Q2 FY2025 from 1.1 times in FY2022, positioning the company to pursue capacity expansion and greater operational efficiency across its regional network.

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