Noble House Home Furniture LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court in Houston, Texas. This US-based company has been a manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of interior and exterior furniture since 1992. Phu Tai Joint Stock Company has traded goods with the above partner.

According to Phu Tai, in the US market, the company has many customers who are prestigious and traditional businesses. Among them, Noble House is the company's customer, but accounts for a small proportion (less than 5%) of total export revenue in this market.

Phu Tai affirms that the company's customers in the US market are all reputable customers for many years, always pay their debts on time and have never had any overdue debts before.

According to the audited consolidated financial report for the first half of the year, as of June 30, Phu Tai had short-term receivables of more than VND79 billion from Noble House, about 10 times higher than at the beginning of the year.

However, according to Phu Tai, the current balance receivable from Noble House is much lower than the posted information because from June 30, Noble House continued to make payments as committed to the company.

Phu Tai also said that Noble House's declaration of bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 did not significantly affect the company's production and business activities. The bankruptcy protection as above is to serve the process of restructuring Noble House in the coming time.

In addition, Noble House is still contacting the company to place orders to maintain regular business operations and make payments according to the court's decision.

The company’s wooden furniture exports to the US market are recovering at a rapid pace. Orders from Phu Tai’s customers exporting to this market remain stable and are likely to increase in the coming time, Phu Tai said.

In the first half of the year, Phu Tai's revenue reached VND2,884 billion, down 24%, and after-tax profit was VND169 billion, down 45% compared to the same period last year. With this result, the company has achieved 41% of the revenue plan and 40% of the profit target for the whole year. The wood segment accounts for a large proportion of the company's revenue structure.

According to Agriseco Research, new home sales in the US market are showing signs of recovery, indicating the first signs of a positive housing market, which has led to expectations of a recovery in orders for wood and wood products. In addition, the domestic real estate market is expected to gradually warm up, helping to improve domestic consumption demand, plus the stone cladding segment is growing strongly.

PTB stock price has also decreased for two consecutive sessions, after reaching a 16-month peak of VND62,400/share. At the end of the session on October 10, PTB stock reached VND59,200/share.

(Source: Investment Newspaper)