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Tag: Vietnam

  • ​Saigon zoo posts $304,000 loss due to Covid-19

    ​Saigon zoo posts $304,000 loss due to Covid-19

    The Saigon Zoo-Botanical Garden Company Ltd has reported a VND6.8 billion ($304,300) loss for 2020 as Covid-19 kept people away from its zoo.

    Its revenues fell by 38.6 percent to VND70 billion, the lowest in six years.

    The 157-year-old zoo in District 1 closed for two months from March 20 last year as part of Covid containment measures, and again shut on July 25 when a new wave began.

    It set itself targets of VND114 billion in revenues and VND2.2 billion in pre-tax profits at the beginning of this year as the pandemic seemed to be contained.

    The zoo subsequently revised the targets downward to VND81 billion and breakeven.

    It raised ticket prices from VND30,000 to 40,000 for children and from VND50,000 to 60,000 for adults since January.

    The zoo has over 125 species of animals and birds.

  • Gojek Vietnam drives past a driver milestone

    Gojek Vietnam drives past a driver milestone

    The number of motorbike taxi drivers riding for ride-hailing firm Gojek Vietnam has crossed the 200,000 mark with millions of commuters using its app.

    Competitor Be said last month it had 100,000 motorbike and car drivers.

    Singapore’s Grab, the market leader, has not released its driver figures for the two years. It had reported in May 2019 that it had 195,000 driver associates in Vietnam.

    But Gojek and Grab have different interpretations of their figures. Gojek’s 200,000 drivers are “registered and active,” meaning they have recently turned on their apps, but it does not necessarily mean they have necessarily served a customer.

    Grab drivers are categorized as “transacting users,” or those who have served a customer in a recent period of time.

    Gojek is currently focused on three services – motorbike rides and delivery of goods and food. Grab and Be have all of these three services plus car rides.

    Gojek entered Vietnam in August 2018 as GoViet. The company became Gojek Vietnam last year.

    Vietnam’s transport and food Internet market grew by 50 percent year-on-year to $1.6 billion last year, according to a study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.

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  • Vietcombank, Vinhomes tickers drive VN-Index up

    Vietcombank, Vinhomes tickers drive VN-Index up

    Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.61 percent to 1,268.28 points Tuesday, a new peak, led by Vietcombank and Vinhomes tickers.

    The index was on an upward trend throughout the day, hitting the 1,286 mark in the early afternoon before falling to the 1,260 range. It closed with a near 8-point gain.

    Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 17 percent to VND23.1 trillion ($1 billion), the highest of the past five sessions. The bourse saw 187 tickers gain and 227 lose.

    VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank contributed most to the gain of VN-Index this session with 4.5 points.

    It rose 4.6 percent to a three-month high. The ticker has gained 6.8 percent in the last two sessions.

    VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes contributed 3.6 points to VN-Index’s rise. It closed with a 3.9 percent gain, hitting a new historic peak.

    VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk pushed the index up by 1.8 points. It rose 3.3 percent, with 6.99 million shares being traded, the highest since November 2017.

    PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development rose 4.6 percent to a new all-time peak. This is its third session in the green.

    MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World also hit a new peak with a 3.7 percent gain.

    On the losing side, TCH of real estate company Hoang Huy Investment Financial Services plunged 2.6 percent. It has lost 14 percent in the past 11 days.

    Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth session in a row to the tune of VND553 billion, down 25 percent, with strongest pressure on VHM, VNM and CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank.

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  • Steel makers see profits skyrocket

    Steel makers see profits skyrocket

    Steel manufacturers in Vietnam have seen profits increase as much 30-40 times in the first quarter as demand surges and prices rise.

    In Hanoi, Me Lin Steel saw a post-tax profit surge 41 times year-on-year to VND15.5 billion ($672 million), as steel prices started rising towards the end of last year and the company managed to cut costs.

    Tien Len Group in the southern province of Dong Nai saw its post-tax profit rise 30 times year-on-year to over VND120 billion, meeting half of this year’s target.

    Meanwhile, the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel (TISCO) company in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, which has been reporting repeated losses, posted its highest first-quarter profit in the last three years at VND44 billion.

    The Hoa Phat Group has not released its profit figures, but saw March sales hitting a new record one million tons, the highest monthly figure ever.

    The profit surge has happened as steel prices skyrocket due to limited availability of materials from China and India even as the global economy recovers from Covid-19 impacts.

    Material prices have risen 30-40 percent from early March and are expected to continue rising until the end of the third quarter, according to the Vietnam Steel Association.

    Analysts with leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation have said that local steel producers are benefiting from the recovery of the real estate market, foreign direct investment and public spending on infrastructure.

    Some big companies, like HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, can take advantage of the low supply of hot-rolled coil steel and do even better next year, they said.

  • Gold bullion producer SJC reports 11 pct rise in profits

    Gold bullion producer SJC reports 11 pct rise in profits

    State-owned Saigon Jewelry Company reported a pre-tax profit of VND75 billion ($3.2 million) for 2020, up 11 percent from the previous year.

    The company’s revenue rose 26 percent to VND23.49 trillion in 2020, but its financial expenses tripled because of provisions made for the loss of financial investments.

    Established in 1988, SJC is a wholly state-owned enterprise belonging to Ho Chi Minh City. Revenues were up 26 percent at VND23.49 trillion, well below its target of VND25.7 trillion.

    It has been the sole producer of gold bullion in the country since 2012, and has around 90 percent of the bullion market.

  • Alameda Research invests in Vietnamese blockchain technology startup

    Alameda Research invests in Vietnamese blockchain technology startup

    U.S. quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research has invested $4 million in Coin98 Finance, a Vietnamese startup and developer of decentralized finance protocols and applications.

    Decentralized finance (DeFi) refers to the financial applications that are built on top of blockchain networks.

    According to Forbes, the deal demonstrates the growth of DeFi across Asia as Vietnam, South Korea and Japan see signs of rising demand for it and an increase in the number of active and experienced teams building crucial infrastructure around it.

    In 2019 Coin98 Finance developed a crypto wallet, Coin98 Wallet, which supports coins and tokens on many blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Binance Smart Chain.

    It saw around $20 million traded in March.

    Thanh Le, the CEO of Coin98 Finance, said the interest from top venture capital firms and investors like Alameda mostly stem from its large existing user base.

    “Before we started doing a raise, we already built Coin98 Wallet and quickly acquired over 200,000 users in Asia. The product is quite established and captured a decent market share in Southeast Asia markets.

    “Compared with thousands of blockchain projects who only come up with only an idea, we already ship the product out and are being used by hundreds of thousands of people.”

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  • Car imports from China increase sixfold

    Car imports from China increase sixfold

    Vietnam imported 3,945 completely built-up (CBU) cars from China in Q1, six times over the same period last year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

    Despite the surging number of cars imported from China, the country was the third-largest car supplier of Vietnam, after Thailand and Indonesia.

    Up to 80 percent of the completely built-up (CBU) cars imported to Vietnam in Q1 were from Thailand and Indonesia. The number of imported cars from Thailand was 19,300 units, up 56 percent year-on-year, while those from Indonesia stood at 8,950 units, down 26 percent year-on-year.

    Thailand and Indonesia have always led the list of Vietnam’s car suppliers ever since the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) took effect in 2018, owing to the zero import tariff. Meanwhile, imported Chinese cars are dealt an import tariff of 47-70 percent.

    Vietnam imported around 35,300 CBU cars in Q1, a year-on-year increase of 31.1 percent.

    Auto sales rose by 36 percent year-on-year between January and March to 70,952 units, according to Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

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  • Pandemic grounds 39 Vietnam aircraft

    Pandemic grounds 39 Vietnam aircraft

    Vietnam had 39 aircraft, or over 14 percent of its fleet, grounded in the first quarter after a new Covid-19 outbreak cut travel demand.

    Eighteen of the grounded aircraft belonged to national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, 14 to budget carrier Vietjet, four to Pacific Airlines and three to Bamboo Airways, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

    Vietnam’s fleet of 269 aircraft is 13 more than it had last year.

    The country closed the borders and canceled all international flights in March last year, allowing in only certain categories of people with stringent conditions.

    Vietnamese carriers served 5.8 million passengers in the first quarter this year, down 45 percent year-on-year.

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  • Lotte Vietnam denies reports it will close Lotteria fast-food chain

    Lotte Vietnam denies reports it will close Lotteria fast-food chain

    Lotteria Vietnam has said that it will continue its business expansion in Vietnam amid Korean media reports of its closedown over a net loss of nearly US$9 million.

    The company, which is operated by Lotte GRS under South Korea’s Lotte Group, dismissed a media report that it would cease operations in Vietnam, a spokesperson told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday.

    There is an inaccurate understanding of the Korean media report, the Lotteria Vietnam spokesperson added.

    Lotteria Vietnam is proceeding with its normal business while an expansion is underway.

    The firm is expected to invest in a new plant at Long Hau Industrial Park in Long An Province, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, and open ten Lotteria stores in 2021.

    “We are working with our parent company in South Korea to clarify its new strategy,” the spokesperson told Tuoi Tre.

    The spokesperson further explained that Lotteria Vietnam is still operating its franchise business and has reached almost 100 franchised restaurants.

    Entering the Vietnamese market in 1998, Lotteria Vietnam is running over 260 outlets and is among the top fast-food chains in the Southeast Asian country.

    The Korea Times reported on Sunday that Lotteria Vietnam is not closing down.

    “It is true that Lotte GRS is leaving the Indonesian market but we are continuing with our franchise and food retail businesses in Vietnam,” the newspaper quoted a Lotte GRS official as saying.

    The paper seemed to correct its report on Friday that had cited “a Lotte GRS official” as saying “Lotteria Vietnam and others have met the requirements for closure starting this year.”

    Friday’s article said that Lotte GRS was in the process of closing down “Lotte Group’s food material supplier in Vietnam, which was established in early 2020 to expand Lotte GRS’ business in neighboring Southeast Asian countries.”

    “Lotteria franchises in Vietnam have all stopped operations and its headquarters in Seoul is reviewing the possibility of closing down the business within this year,” The Korea Times reported.

    The report went on to elaborate that Lotteria Vietnam did not make any profit for Lotte GRS in 2020.

    “Lotteria Vietnam’s book value stood at 26.8 billion won [$24 million] as of early last year, but declined to 15.6 billion won [$14 million] after recognizing 11.2 billion [$10 million] won in valuation losses,” the article said.

    “Its net loss surpassed 10 billion won [$8.9 million] in one year.”

  • Vietnam among WeWork’s top markets in Southeast Asia

    Vietnam among WeWork’s top markets in Southeast Asia

    Vietnam is among the top countries in Southeast Asia for coworking space provider WeWork, growing by 8 percent since early last year.

    Most of its customers in the country are in technology, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, while financial organizations are among the new ones, Elizabeth Laws Fuller, WeWork’s head of growth in Southeast Asia said.

    It entered Vietnam in 2018 and now has two locations in Ho Chi Minh City out of its 30 in Southeast Asia.

    Vietnam is seeing rising demand for coworking space.

    A recent survey by WeWork and market research firm International Data Corporation found that 80 percent of companies plan to use coworking space in the next three years.

    Another reason for the improving figures in Vietnam is its success in containing the Covid-19 pandemic and sustaining economic growth, Fuller said.

    Many global corporations have been investing or expanding in Vietnam in recent years, and they have a demand for flexible workspace, she said.

    The pandemic has changed companies’ perception of coworking space, and in the long term customers would not be only small and medium-sized players but also large companies, she added.

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  • Restaurant chain operator Golden Gate’s profit plummets

    Restaurant chain operator Golden Gate’s profit plummets

    Restaurant chain operator Golden Gate saw its post-tax profit plunge 79.8 percent year-on-year to VND65 billion ($2.8 million) in 2020.

    It posted VND4.5 trillion in revenue, down 5 percent year-on-year, according to its financial statement.

    Golden Gate attributed the plunge in profits to the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the company to temporarily close all of its restaurants in March and April last year as the country underwent social distancing.

    It had to cut expenses and implement food delivery services. A total of 18 of its restaurants were shut down last year.

    By the end of 2020, its total assets and liabilities were valued at VND2.3 trillion and VND1.1 trillion, respectively.

    Golden Gate was founded in 2005 with its first restaurant in Hanoi, the Ashima mushroom hotpot restaurant. It currently runs over 400 restaurants under 21 brands nationwide, with over 4,000 employees.

  • Citigroup to exit consumer banking in Vietnam

    Citigroup to exit consumer banking in Vietnam

    America’s Citigroup will exit 13 international consumer banking markets, including Vietnam, to shift its focus to four wealth centers.

    The move is part of the bank’s strategic decision to direct investments and resources to businesses with the greatest scale and growth potential, it stated, adding its main markets will include Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London.

    Apart from Vietnam, 12 other markets to be affected are Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan and Thailand.

    “While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don’t have the scale we need to compete. We believe our capital, investment dollars and other resources are better deployed against higher returning opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in Asia.”

    The bank has not specified when it would leave Vietnam.

    Citigroup in 1994 became the first U.S. financial institution licensed to open a branch in Hanoi. It opened its second branch in Ho Chi Minh City in 1998.

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  • Used automobile import quotas fail to attract interest

    Used automobile import quotas fail to attract interest

    The auction of import quotas for used cars at low tariffs under a free trade deal has been canceled after it failed to attract interest.

    Under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a certain number of used cars can be imported annually, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade auctions the right to import them.

    This year, the quota was for 72 vehicles, and the deadline for bidding was March 31, but no bids were received for them.

    The auction was first held last year, and two importers won the quota for 66 cars.

    According to a car dealership, enterprises are not interested in bidding since they have to comply with stringent import regulations.
    “Car dealerships prefer buying cars that are manufactured locally since the procedures are a lot less complicated.”

    The annual quota will increase to 150 by 2034. The ministry said the auction would continue to be held next year.

  • US removes Vietnam from currency manipulator list

    US removes Vietnam from currency manipulator list

    The U.S. has removed Vietnam from the list of economies it considers currency manipulators, reversing a decision made by the Trump administration in December.

    Its Treasury Department said Friday that no economy currently meets the U.S.’s criteria to be labeled manipulators, but warned that Vietnam, Switzerland, and Taiwan would be under enhanced monitoring.

    There is insufficient evidence to conclude they are manipulating their exchange rates.

    A country is labeled a currency manipulator if it sells its currency and buys U.S. dollars to depreciate the former to benefit its exports.

    “For calendar year 2020, we have not made a finding regarding the manipulation designation,” a department official told reporters.

    Vietnam had last December rejected the U.S.’s currency manipulator allegations, reiterating that its monetary policies do not target unfair trade advantages and that it would continue to work with the U.S. to ensure a “harmonious and fair” trade relationship.

    The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said Saturday that Vietnam’s monetary policies in recent years have only sought to control inflation and ensure economic stability, and not derive unfair trade advantages.

    It said it has been working to increase exchange rate flexibility, resulting in improvements in the foreign currency market, and these efforts have been acknowledged by the U.S. Treasury Department.

    Vietnam would continue to work with the U.S. to ensure a harmonious and fair trade relationship, it said.

    Truong Van Phuoc, former chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, said that the U.S. Treasury’s lifting of the label could make Vietnam more confident in its trade and monetary policies.

  • Vietnam’s largest wind power plant enters operation

    Vietnam’s largest wind power plant enters operation

    HCMC-based energy firm Trungnam Group Friday has put its wind power plant in central Ninh Thuan Province into operation, considered the country’s largest to date.

    The plant, which spreads over an area of 900 hectares in Thuan Bac District, has 45 turbines with a total capacity of 151.95 megawatts that costs VND4 trillion ($173.4 million), the Government portal reported.

    The wind power plant is combined with a 204 MW solar power plant to form the solar-wind farm complex considered the largest in Southeast Asia. The complex will supply a total 950 million kWh per year for the country’s grid.

    The private energy company has added a total 1,064 MW to the national grid comprising hydropower, solar and wind power. It plans to have a renewable output of nearly 10,000 MW by 2027.

    Tran Quoc Nam, chairman of Ninh Thuan, said the province is now taking the lead with 32 solar power projects with a total capacity of 2,257 MW, and three wind power projects with an accumulative capacity of 329 MW.

    Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy with its long coastline and 2,700 hours of sunshine a year on average.

    Solar power currently accounts for just 0.01 percent of the country’s total power output, but the government plans to increase the ratio to 3.3 percent by 2030 and 20 percent by 2050.

    Vietnam aims to produce 10.7 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030, mainly through solar and wind power projects.