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Tag: Vietnam

  • Airlines to refund Vietnam-China flight tickets

    Airlines to refund Vietnam-China flight tickets

    Vietnamese airlines have offered to refund customers who want to cancel their flights to and from China amid the coronavirus outbreak.

    Flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and low-cost arm Jetstar Pacific stated Friday both would refund tickets and allow free schedule changes for passengers flying to and from Chinese cities starting Friday until further notice.

    The two airlines do not currently operate direct flights to Wuhan City in central China, the epicenter of the new deadly pneumonia virus outbreak.

    Both would provide masks and gloves to passengers on its flights to and from China if requested.

    Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Thursday ordered all flight permits be canceled and the granting of new permits to all flights connected to Wuhan by both Vietnamese and foreign airlines be suspended.

    The Ministry of Health has ordered all tourists from China entering Vietnam complete health declaration forms as it combats the spread of the new coronavirus.

    Two Chinese nationals have been quarantined at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City since Thursday after testing positive for the pneumonia virus.

    China on Saturday said 41 people had died and 1,300 been infected globally due to the virus.

    World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus an “emergency in China” this week but stopped short of branding it an international concern.

    Most fatalities have involved elderly patients, many with pre-existing conditions, WHO confirmed.

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  • Techcombank posts double digit growth in profits

    Techcombank posts double digit growth in profits

    Techcombank has reported a 20 percent year-on-year surge in 2019 consolidated pretax profits to more than VND12.8 trillion ($552.8 million).

    The nation’s largest private lender by assets said in its latest financial report that the profit increased as credit risk provision halved to VND917 billion ($39.6 million) last year.

    While the bank’s credit activities continued to develop, its takings from other services remained the same as in 2018 at approximately VND3.25 trillion ($140.5 million).

    The bank saw a 15 percent increase in total revenues to around VND21 trillion ($909.9 million). By the end of 2019, Techcombank’s total assets were worth VND383.7 trillion ($16.5 billion), up 20 percent year-on-year.

    The bank’s bad debt ratio decreased from 1.75 percent at the beginning of the year to 1.3 percent.

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  • Masan chairman opens up on Vincommerce merger

    Masan chairman opens up on Vincommerce merger

    Masan’s acquisition of a majority stake in Vingroup’s minimart chain was a “big step” to break into consumer retail, the group’s chairman says.

    The food conglomerate chose Vincommerce as an acquisition target because it had the largest retail platform by a number of points of sale and accounted for 25 percent of the modern retail market, Nguyen Dang Quang, Masan Chairman, told shareholders in a report Thursday.

    Vincommerce’s network of 2,600 VinMart supermarkets and VinMart+ convenience stores nationwide is also well placed to bring added value to MEAT Deli, Masan’s clean meat brand, he said.

    “Although not everyone agreed with the merger deal, with many saying that retail is a completely different playing field, for us it all starts with putting consumers first, and this is our strength.”

    Quang said new shopping experiences and the ability to serve customers anytime, anywhere was a basic consumer need now. So combining Vincommerce’s modern network and Masan’s 300,000 traditional points of sale across the country will help build a modern and seamless retail system to serve consumers, he added.

    Thursday was the first time the Masan chairman has opened up about the group’s merger deal with Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup last December, which saw it acquire an 83.74 percent stake in Vincommerce.

    Masan will set up a new entity that holds the majority stake in Vincommerce, and an 85.7 percent stake in Masan Consumer, Masan’s subsidiary which produces consumer goods. Masan will hold 70 percent of this entity, while Vingroup and other investors that previously held stakes in Vincommerce but transferred them to Masan, will own the remaining 30 percent.

    Masan Group plans to have the new entity break even on an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) basis in 2020, but said it could close between 150-300 stores that are unable to break even or fail to meet traffic targets.

    MSN shares of Masan Group on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange had plummeted to floor price upon news of the merger deal on December 3, and the stock had lost 22.6 percent at the time of writing.

    Several securities companies have said that although the merger deal is considered mutually beneficial to both parties in the long-run, investors are worried Masan’s short-term profitability will take a hit, as Vingroup’s retail business segment, mostly made up of Vinmart stores, has recorded losses for five consecutive years from 2014.

    The latest financial reports showed that the segment has gone on to lose VND2.52 trillion ($108.76 million) for Vingroup in the first six months of 2019.

    In a letter to Vincommerce employees in December, Vingroup had also said it will not hold a majority stake in the merged entity to focus resources on technology and industry.

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  • Tet shopping frenzy at Hanoi supermarkets

    Tet shopping frenzy at Hanoi supermarkets

    With a week to go before the Lunar New Year, or Tet, supermarkets in Hanoi are thronged with shoppers.

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  • ATMs stutter during busy Lunar New Year lead-up

    ATMs stutter during busy Lunar New Year lead-up

    Many people in Hanoi and Saigon were unable to withdraw cash from ATMs while online bank transfers also took longer than usual during the weekend.

    Three ATMs belonging to a bank on Hanoi’s Pham Ngoc Thach Street stopped working several times in the past few days, including on early Saturday evening when all simultaneously flashed that services were “not available at the moment”.

    Nguyen Hoang, a customer who tried to withdraw money, said: “I came here because the ATM in Ha Dong District did not let me withdraw, but not only did the transaction fail but my card was also swallowed. I have urgent things that require cash but when I called the hotline, they said I had to wait until Monday to get my card back.”

    Two ATMs belonging to Vietcombank and BIDV in the area also failed to deliver cash, as did others belonging to VietinBank and PVCombank elsewhere in the capital.

    At around 5 p.m. on Saturday a long queue could be seen outside two ATMs in front of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology in Hai Ba Trung District.

    Lien, who had to queue for over 10 minutes to withdraw cash, said: “There are three BIDV ATMs next to each other on Ton That Tung Street, but two of them showed errors resulting in a large number of people queuing up. So I came here.”

    The ATMs have been frustrating customers in Ho Chi Minh City as well.

    Two ATMs on Le Duc Tho Road in Go Vap District saw dozens of customers entering and leaving the cubicles Sunday evening after being informed they had insufficient cash. Some of them said they had already tried four or five ATMs earlier.

    In an industrial zone in District 7, Minh Buu, a blue-collar worker, said many ATMs in the area reported errors when he tried to withdraw cash.

    “There are already very few ATMs in the suburb; now errors keep popping up, tiring us out.”

    The run-up to Lunar New Year is a peak time as demand for shopping and payments skyrocket, especially during weekends, causing even transfers through some banks’ online systems to become slow and error-prone.

    This month, especially during the past week, many Agribank customers have reported being unable to use the bank’s mobile application, which has been showing the “service not available at the moment” error.

    Some have also reported not receiving notifications about money being transferred to their account several days after transactions. The bank’s employees have claimed it was due to system maintenance.

    To meet the soaring demand, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has instructed banks to make specific plans for ATM operations during the end of the year and the Lunar New Year holidays, and closely monitor their ATMs to ensure they operate normally.

    It also told them to take appropriate measures to reduce the load on ATMs in busy areas, warning they would be fined if an ATM is out of order for over 24 hours without customers and the local central bank branch being notified of it.

    But technical issues and local congestion could still occur during peak hours, especially in the case of banks that have yet to upgrade their ATM systems.

    According to the SBV, in addition to existing solutions to supply ATMs with enough cash, banks also need to promote cashless payment methods such as internet banking, mobile banking and paying through POS terminals and by scanning QR codes.

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  • Banking systems experience intense Tet surge

    Banking systems experience intense Tet surge

    Banks, ATMs, and online banking systems have been overloaded towards the end of the Lunar New Year, forcing customers to wait long hours.

    Hoa went to a major bank on Hanoi’s Duy Tan Street early one recent afternoon to process the payment of a loan.

    She was happy to notice that her turn would come soon, based on the token number she received, but it took an hour for her to be called.

    The bank was full of faces weary from the long wait, which seemed 30 minutes on average. People found ways to occupy themselves, with some even taking out laptops to work while they waited. Others grew restive and frustrated and left early without bothering for their turn to come.

    A similar scene has been enacted for several days in many banks. On Tuesday (27th of the last lunar month),  the waiting room of a bank in Hanoi’s Dong Da district had around 50 customers waiting at around 3 p.m. Each and every counter was occupied, and the staff had barely any time to break.

    Long queues in front of banks have become a common sight these days. At a mall on the city’s Ba Trieu street, people were also lining up in front of ATMs. Some of the machines are broken, some were overloaded due to a large amount of transactions, and some ran out of cash.

    In highly frequented places, the number of customers seeking banking services kept increasing day after day, slowing down every operation.

    The situation was not much better with online banking systems, which have also been overloaded. Many users complained they could not access their apps, experienced system failure and encountered long delays in carrying out a transaction.

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  • Taxis, ride-hailing apps hike Tet ride charges

    Taxis, ride-hailing apps hike Tet ride charges

    Taxis are refusing to charge by the meter and ride-hailing apps have doubled ‘peak hour’ prices and added surcharges as Tet draws close.

    Monday evening, five days before the Lunar New Year (Tet), Hoang Viet requested a car on ride-hailing app Grab. He was surprised to find that his 14-kilometer trip from an office block in Duy Tan street to the Gia Lam Bus Station cost VND280,000 ($12.11), more than double the usual price.

    When he tried to request rides on other apps like Be and Fastgo, he found that the prices were cheaper, but was unable to find a driver who would accept his request.

    Many others have reported running into similar situations since last week, especially during peak hours when travel demand is high as people rush to shop before Tet.

    Ngoc Mai, another resident, said it took her half an hour to call a taxi home after taking her child to a shopping center in downtown Hanoi.

    “Before opening the door, the driver asked me for VND120,000 ($5.2) for a 5-kilometer trip. This usually costs VND60,000-70,000 ($2.6-3) on regular days,” she said.

    Mai then asked three other taxis parked around the mall, but received similarly high quotes, with drivers saying they were charging more because of traffic jams around the city. Mai ended up requesting a ride on an app, but it took 20 minutes for the driver to come to pick her up.

    During the ride, Mai’s driver apologized and explained that the roads had become heavily congested over the last few days. Despite his company charging higher fees, he was making only VND1 million ($43) from less than 10 rides, while on normal days, his revenue could go up to VND1.5 million ($65), he said.

    “It’s not that we want to reject passengers, but roads are now very busy, especially in downtown streets, where it could take an hour to go just one kilometer. Yes, we have raised prices, but Grab has done so as well,” said the driver of a traditional taxi who did not wish to be named.

    Taxi prices are expected to go even higher, with most-ride hailing firms adding a surcharge to support drivers during the Tet holiday – from January 23-27.

    From Wednesday, passengers will have to pay an extra VND10,000 ($0.43) per trip on GrabBike and VND15,000 ($0.65) on GrabCar, the Singapore-based company has announced.

    Local ride-hailing firm Be also said it was adding a surcharge of VND20,000 ($0.86) per car ride during Tet peak times, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 4 p.m.-11 p.m.

    Meanwhile, Indonesia-based Go-Viet has said it will charge an additional VND20,000 ($0.86) for GoBike rides for the first 2 kilometers, and an additional VND5,000 ($0.22) for every kilometer after. It will also charge an additional VND10,000 ($0.43) fee per trip during the night.

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  • Sabeco reports record profits

    Sabeco reports record profits

    Post-tax profits surged 22 percent year-on-year for Vietnam’s largest brewer Sabeco, reaching VND5.37 trillion ($231.96 million), its highest annual profit ever.

    The brewer’s 2019 revenues increased 5 percent year-on-year to VND37.9 trillion ($1.64 billion), with improved business results mainly attributed to heavy investments in sales and marketing, Sabeco management said in the company’s latest annual financial report.

    Sabeco spent VND1.49 trillion ($64.33 million) on marketing last year, a year-on-year increase of 31 percent, the report said.

    Revenues in the final quarter, however, declined 7 percent year-on-year to VND9.73 trillion ($420.11 million), but post-tax profits rose 18 percent to VND1.09 trillion ($47.06 million). This was due to profits from financial investments surging 54 percent, and profits from joint ventures and associate companies rising 41 percent, Sabeco said.

    By the end of 2019, Sabeco’s total assets and liabilities were valued at approximately VND27 trillion ($1.17 billion) and VND6.9 trillion ($297.92 million) respectively.

    Sabeco is owned 53.59 percent by Vietnam Beverage, a subsidiary of Thai beverage company ThaiBev. The Vietnamese government, represented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, retains a 36 percent stake in the company.

    According to the latest figures by securities firm FPTS Securities, Sabeco held 40.9 percent of Vietnam’s beer market by the end of 2018, followed by Heineken Vietnam with 23 percent and local brewer Habeco, with 18.4 percent.

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  • Vietnam eyes 5G equipment sale to US

    Vietnam eyes 5G equipment sale to US

    Vietnam hopes to sell locally-made 5G equipment to the U.S. as it prepares the commercial launch of the telecom technology this year.

    Information and Communications Minister Nguyen Manh Hung proposed to a delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives Monday that they initiate discussions of 5G technical standards to see if made-in-Vietnam equipment could enter the U.S. market.

    Vietnam plans to commence commercial operations of 5G this year, becoming among the first countries in ASEAN to do so, he said.

    The minister had set the stage for launching the new telecommunications technology by making the first 5G phone call on January 17, using equipment manufactured by Vietnamese telecom giant Viettel.

    The military-run Viettel is set to become the sixth firm in the world to launch its own 5G equipment after Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung, and ZTE.

    Viettel plans to commercially launch 5G services this June. It has been testing and installing equipment since last year.

    Hung, a former Viettel CEO, has been pushing 5G research in Vietnam since taking over as communications minister towards the end of 2018. He asked local firms to produce their own equipment so that Vietnam is among the first countries in the world to launch 5G technology.

    The number of 5G subscriptions in Vietnam could hit 6.3 million by 2025 or 6 percent of total mobile subscriptions, technology conglomerate Cisco has forecast.

    In ASEAN, Singapore is expected to lead the way in launching 5G in 2020, followed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, according to U.S. consulting firm AT Kearney.

    5G is said to offer speeds 100 times faster than 4G and support new applications like remote medical procedures and autonomous driving.

  • Grab installs first female CEO for Vietnam operations

    Grab installs first female CEO for Vietnam operations

    Nguyen Thai Hai Van will commence her role as Vietnam CEO of Singapore-based ride-hailing giant Grab on February 1.

    Van, the first female Grab CEO in Vietnam, will oversee business strategy and operations across the country, Grab stated Monday.

    Van boasts 17 years’ prior marketing experience at the Netherlands-backed personal care products maker Unilever Vietnam ahead of joining Grab on November 1 last year. Besides, she co-chairs Vietnam Mobile Marketing Association.

    She takes over as Grab Vietnam CEO from predecessor Jerry Lim, who will return to Singapore to serve as regional head of customer experience.

    Grab has seen strong development since entering Vietnam in 2014. Payments via Moca, its e-payment partner, grew by 150 percent between January and June last year while its number of active monthly mobile users rose by 70 percent.

  • Drivers more geared towards luxury cars

    Drivers more geared towards luxury cars

    Sales of luxury cars in Vietnam surged in 2019 with the rich showing greater preference for premium vehicles in a fast-growing economy. Mercedes-Benz sold the highest number of luxury cars at 6,800 units, up 8 percent from 2018.

    The imported crossover SUV Mercedes-Benz GLC 300, priced at VND2.56 billion ($110,600), was the best-seller, accounting for 40 percent of the number of units sold by the German brand.

    With 20 models, many assembled in Vietnam, Mercedes-Benz created sales gap with the rest of the luxury market.

    Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus recorded a sales surge of 157 percent year-on-year to 1,511 units in 2019.

    Sales of the only Asian luxury brand rose after plummeting in 2018 due to a government decree limiting car imports.

    Swedish brand Volvo recorded sales of 500 units last year, up 250 percent from 2018, with the most in-demand model being the compact crossover SUV Volvo XC60 priced at VND2.85 billion ($123,200).

    Sources said most other German brands like Porsche and BMW recorded increasing sales. Audi was the only brand with decreasing sales due to import challenges, a representative confirmed.

    Insiders say Vietnam’s fast-growing economy and expanding middle class, along with rising car discounts led to the sales surge last year.

    Manufacturers plan to export new models this year to Vietnam, giving customers even more luxury options.

    Auto sales in Vietnam last year rose 11.6 percent from 2018 to 322,322 units, with 58.8 percent of them locally-assembled, according to Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association.

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  • Liverpool FC pop-up store opens in Vietnam

    Liverpool FC pop-up store opens in Vietnam

    Liverpool FC has partnered with CRC Sports to launch a merchandise pop-up store in Vietnam.

    Located at Estella Place shopping mall in District 2, the pop up offers fans a full range of New Balance replica kit as well as authentic Liverpool FC merchandise, apparel and fashion accessories.

    “Our new store in Vietnam will enable us to continue to expand our retail operations, so all our fans can enjoy authentic LFC experiences and purchase our whole range of official merchandise,” said Mike Cox, senior VP, merchandising at Liverpool FC.

    During the Liverpool FC store’s launch event, fans were given the opportunity to meet and take photos with former Liverpool forward Luis Garcia.

  • Typo Vietnam stores open as Australian stationer stretches its Asian reach

    Typo Vietnam stores open as Australian stationer stretches its Asian reach

    Typo Vietnam has launched its second store in Ho Chi Minh City, a month after making its debut in the country.

    Located at Crescent Mall, the new Typo Vietnam store features a wide collection of gifts, decor and travel accessories.

    The Australian stationery brand also offers special products featuring characters from Disney, Marvel and Star Wars.

    Opening last month, the first Typo Vietnam store is located at the new development Aeon Mall Ha Dong in the capital city of Hanoi.

    Founded in 2009, Typo operates more than 250 stores in 14 countries and regions, as well as an online destination that ships globally. It is owned by the Cotton On Group.

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  • Masan Group to shutter hundreds of Vinmart stores

    Masan Group to shutter hundreds of Vinmart stores

    Vietnam consumer-goods company Masan Group says it plans to shut down hundreds of VinMart and VinMart+ stores it purchased from VinGroup last year.

    The company said they will open 10-30 new Vinmart supermarkets and close 100-300 Vinmart+ stores this year to focus on improving profitability of existing locations instead of following the program of massive expansion followed by the previous owner.

    Masan will shift its focus to supermarkets of less than 1500 sqm that bring the best revenue, cut inefficient supermarkets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang and Can Tho and expand into tier 2 cities and within Vincom shopping centres.

    The VinMart+ chain operated 2888 stores last year and had targeted opening 300 to 500 new stores while closing 150-300 less efficient stores.

    Post merger, Masan aims to increase VinCommerce’s revenue to more than VND42 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 64 per cent. Masan has spent an estimated VND5.4 trillion (US$233 million) to buy a controlling stake in VinCommerce, which runs VinMart and VinMart+ stores in 50 provinces and cities and 14 VinEco hi-tech farms.

    Meanwhile, VinGroup closed its VinPro chain of appliance stores on December 31 and has since announced the closure of a network of smartphone stores trading under the Vien Thong A brand. And this week, VinGroup said it was dropping plans to launch an airline as well as it seeks to focus its business on industrial categories – including cars (VinFast), and phones and flatscreen TVs (VinSmart) – along with its Vincom shopping centres and VinPearl resorts.

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  • Heineken Vietnam pays $39.7 mln in back taxes and fines

    Heineken Vietnam pays $39.7 mln in back taxes and fines

    Heineken Vietnam Brewery has paid VND917.2 billion ($39.7 million) in back taxes and fines for a 2018 transaction.

    Singapore-based Heineken Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. had, at the end of 2018, struck a deal valued at over VND4.8 trillion ($207.7 million) with the Heineken Vietnam Brewery. Under the deal, the Singaporean firm transferred its entire stake in its Vietnamese subsidiary to the latter.

    The tax payable on the deal was VND823 billion ($35.6 million), but Heineken Asia Pacific claimed it was exempt from paying it under the double taxation agreement signed by the governments of Vietnam and Singapore.

    However, the General Department of Taxation ruled that the tax had to be paid because the real estate value in the deal was over 50 percent of the assets involved in the deal.

    The department confirmed that it has received in full the payment of back taxes and fines.

    Another major FDI corporation, Coca-Cola Vietnam, has been ordered to pay VND821.4 billion ($35.4 million) in back taxes and penalties stretching back over nine years.

    The company, which has been suspected of engaging in transfer pricing fraud to evade taxes, has paid VND471 billion ($20.4 million), or 57.3 percent of the amount, at the time of writing.

    Vietnam collected VND18.8 trillion ($813 million) last year in back taxes and fines, according to the General Department of Taxation.

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