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Tag: Vietnam

  • Mobifone names new chairman

    Mobifone names new chairman

    Telecom giant Mobifone has named Nguyen Hong Hien as its new chairman until 2027.

    Hien, 48, replaces Nguyen Manh Thang, who becomes a board member at the state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT).

    Prior to joining Mobifone, he was head of the technology and infrastructure department at the Commission for Management of State Capital at Enterprises, and worked at State Capital Investment Corporation from 2007.

    In 2021, Mobifone posted pre-tax profits of VND4.96 trillion ($213.8 million) on revenues of VND31 trillion.

    It expects revenues to slightly increase to VND31.36 trillion this year, but profits to drop to VND4.7 trillion.

  • UOB appoints new Vietnam CEO

    UOB appoints new Vietnam CEO

    Singaporean bank UOB has named Victor Ngo its CEO in Vietnam.

    The 30-year banking veteran replaces Harry Loh, who returns to Singapore to lead group non-financial risk management, according to a statement.

    He started working for UOB in 2004 and has occupied several key positions, including head of group internal audit and head of group compliance.

    Since 2015 he has been active in Vietnam, including helping establish the bank’s first foreign subsidiary in 2017.

    “With Ngo’s extensive experience in the banking industry and within UOB Group, he is well placed to drive our Vietnam franchise to new heights,” UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong said.

    UOB, which opened a representative office in Vietnam in 1993 and a branch in HCMC two years later, is the sixth largest foreign-owned bank in the country by charter capital (VND5 trillion, US$215.5 million).

  • Vietjet eyes 10-fold jump in profits amid return to post-pandemic normalcy

    Vietjet eyes 10-fold jump in profits amid return to post-pandemic normalcy

    Budget airline Vietjet targets profits of VND1 trillion (US$43.14 million) this year, 10 times the 2021 figure, as it seeks to recover from a two-year slump caused by Covid-19.

    It eyes a 2.5-fold rise in revenues to VND32.72 trillion. At the company’s annual general meeting on Saturday, shareholders expressed concern over the rising oil prices, but the management was optimistic.

    To Viet Thang, deputy CEO, revealed that when oil prices reach $100 per barrel, operation costs increase by 50 percent.

    CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said the airline has flown when oil prices were above $100 and still made profits.

    “We are always ready to buy fuel at low price and store them to optimize costs.”

    She also said a surcharge is levied when fuel prices surge and this eases the burden on the company.

    Vietjet plans to return to its pre-pandemic schedule domestically and resume 70 percent of international flights.

    Shareholders approved a plan to issue up to 54 million new shares, or 10 percent of the company’s free float.

    Vietjet recently placed a $35-billion order for 200 Boeing 737 aircraft and engine maintenance services.

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  • Vietnam Airline sells stake in Cambodian carrier

    Vietnam Airline sells stake in Cambodian carrier

    Vietnam Airlines has sold a 35 percent stake in Cambodia Angkor Air for US$35 million.

    It had bought a 49 percent stake in the Cambodian carrier in 2009 and promised to help it expand.

    But in 2020 it had expressed its intention to sell of its stake due to Covid-19. It is now set to divest the remaining 14 percent in by the end of this year.

    Vietnam Airlines’ accumulated losses climbed to VND21.98 trillion ($955.6 million) last year, roughly the same as its charter capital.

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  • Gasoline pushes May inflation to 2.86 pct

    Gasoline pushes May inflation to 2.86 pct

    A surge in the prices of gasoline, food and some other goods has sent the consumer price index rising by 2.86 percent year-on-year in May.

    Global gasoline prices went up while the rising costs of raw materials and ingredients pushed up food prices, according to the General Statistics Office.

    The monthly rise in prices was 0.38 percent with culture, tourism and entertainment products rising by 0.74 percent as travel demand recovered.

    Inflation in the first five months was 2.25 percent as against 1.29 percent in the same period last year.

    Standard Chartered Bank expects full-year inflation of 4.2 percent in 2022 and 5.5 percent in 2023.

    Several economists have also said it would be difficult to contain inflation below the targeted 4 percent rate due to higher prices, especially of gasoline, caused by war in Ukraine.

    Inflation was 1.8 percent last year, the lowest in six years.

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  • Vietnam runs out of luxury cars

    Vietnam runs out of luxury cars

    Many auto brands have no luxury cars to supply Vietnamese customers due to global semiconductor shortage.

    Trung Kien, 33, from the northern province of Bac Ninh, said he has been looking for a luxury car with a price tag of around VND7 billion ($300,000) for a month, but found nothing to buy.

    He said he would have to wait for three to six months to get a popular luxury car delivered, due to shortage of components, especially semiconductors and chips.

    Over the last two years, supply from the world’s largest producer, China, has been trickling due to impacts of Covid-19, resulting in a global shortage.

    Supply of luxury cars in Vietnam is hit the hardest, as brands focus on delivering orders to their major markets like the U.S. or European countries.

    Mercedes-Benz customers are said to wait for at least three months for some SUVs and S-class sedans, and up to a year for the ultra-luxury Maybach sedans and SUVs.

    Some locally made models, including E-class sedans and GLC SUVs, are also in short supply, so buyers will have to wait 1-2 months to get their unit delivered.

    Many auto dealers are accepting deposits but not promising when they can deliver cars.

    Vinh Nam, an experienced luxury car salesperson in HCMC, said customers have gotten used to the current shortage.

    “They prioritize getting a car rather than a color of choice and other options”.

    BMW used to have a fairly steady supply despite having to import vehicles, but in recent months supply has declined and buyers have to wait three to six months for delivery.

    Buyers of Porsche, Lexus and Land Rover have the longest waiting time of 12-14 months depending on their choice of color and options, up from the earlier six to nine months.

    Many buyers are impatient and as a result are not making deposits with dealers, while some are turning to the gray market.

    The shortage of auto parts is also hurting buyers, with some brands raising their prices and cutting promotions.

    Some models are being sold at above listed prices. A Land Cruiser LC300, for instance, is being offered at VND5.5 billion, 37.5 percent higher than the original price.

     

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  • Apple could get AirPods Pro 2 made in Vietnam

    Apple could get AirPods Pro 2 made in Vietnam

    Apple could make its wireless earphone, AirPods Pro 2, in Vietnam this year as it seeks to expand production outside China amid strict Covid-19 policies there, according to reports.

    Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted Tuesday that the new AirPods would be mass produced in Vietnam from the second half of this year.

    “The shift in AirPods Pro 2 production can be attributed to the relatively uncomplicated supply chain and Vietnam’s better production environment (such as infrastructure and workforce) vs. most countries outside China.”

    But he said that since the product introduction process of the device is still on in China, it is not easy to establish a complete non-China production site.

    Apple has told some of its contract manufacturers that it wants to boost production outside China, citing Beijing’s strict anti-Covid policy among other reasons, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

    India and Vietnam, already sites for a small portion of Apple’s global production, are among the countries getting a closer look from the company as alternatives to China, it said, citing people involved in the discussions.

    Apple had been seeking to diversify away from China before Covid-19 broke out in early 2020, but the plans were complicated by the pandemic, the report said.

    Current lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities as part of China’s anti-Covid policy have caused supply-chain bottlenecks for many western companies, it added.

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  • Facebook to charge 5 pct tax on Vietnam ads

    Facebook to charge 5 pct tax on Vietnam ads

    Facebook parent Meta will charge a 5 percent value added tax on all Vietnamese advertisements starting June 1 after assuring the government it will fulfill its tax obligations.

    Meta executives last week told Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that the company would register and pay tax as a foreign contractor doing business in Vietnam.

    Authorities have been calling for properly taxing tech giants like Meta and Google, pointing out they account for around 70 percent of the online advertisement market but use various means to evade tax.

    They taxed cross-border platforms a total of VND5 trillion ($218.5 million) between 2018 and last year.

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  • eBikeGo Completes $5 Million Funding Round, Aims To Raise $25 Million Further

    eBikeGo Completes $5 Million Funding Round, Aims To Raise $25 Million Further

    Electric mobility start-up, eBikeGo, has announced completing a $5 million, or over ₹ 38 crore, funding round. The company recently secured $3.5 million, or over ₹ 27 crore, in a fresh round of funding, which in addition to the $1.5 million, or over ₹ 12 crore, in pre-Series A funding from a combination of overseas and Indian investors, cumulatively standing at $5 million. In fact, the company has announced that it is aiming to raise $25 million, or over ₹ 194 crore, further.

    The latest round of funding comes from Kuwaiti investor Sivaram Juvva and his company Al Tebah for Telecommunications Materials Systems & Devices Company, as well as from Omani investor, Ivor Braganza, and his company Muscat International Project Management & Services LLC. Other investors include some High Net Worth Individuals from the industry.

    Commenting on the latest round of funding, Irfan Khan, Founder & CEO of eBikeGo said, “With this investment, we hope to launch our proven EVs such as Muvi and Velocipedo and have a significant influence on the present status of electric mobility. We as a company are working towards becoming a robust OEM and thus, we aspire to drastically reduce carbon footprint not just in India but on a worldwide scale”.

    Presently active in 7 cities in India, eBikeGo is an electric two-wheeler mobility platform that provides economical and environment-friendly travelling options. To better understand the market, the company says that over the last 3 years it has deployed around 2,000 Electric 2-Wheelers on the B2B platform which were equipped with an AI-based business intelligence unit eBG Matics. With that, the company has gathered 1 Petabyte of data and claims that currently there is no ideal vehicle that caters to the immediate needs of the Indian Market, and the recent fire incidents have led to a setback in the Indian EV space.

    The company claims the solution to this is using LFP batteries, which it claims are more dependable. In fact, eBikeGo is working on a new product line-up for India and has decided to acquire an EV portfolio from Torrot, a Spain-based 70 years old Electric Vehicle Manufacturing company, which owns brands like MUVI and Velocipedo. The company is working on localizing these vehicles as per Indian conditions to produce and market them in India and Europe.

    eBikeGo has meticulously laid out an expansion strategy to set up a massive manufacturing unit, simultaneously beginning production and launching these vehicles and impacting the existing condition of electric mobility, after obtaining funding. The company hopes to launch Velocipedo and MUVI in 2023 with this funding.

  • VN-Index starts off week in red

    VN-Index starts off week in red

    Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index continued to fall Monday with a 1.77 percent decline to 1,218.81 points, with most blue chips in the red. The index started off in the green but plunged in the afternoon and closed almost 22 points lower after losing nearly one point Friday. Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by 7 percent to VND13.33 trillion ($579.56 million).

    The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 27 tickers dropped. SSI dropped 6.85 percent, continuing to fluctuate around its one-year low level.

    It was followed by five banks, with STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank losing 5.8 percent TPB of private TPBank falling 4.5 percent. Other losers included MSN of conglomerate Masan Group, VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group. BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings was the only ticker that bucked the trend by rising 1.2 percent.

    Foreign investors were net sellers for the third straight session to the tune of VND439.11 billion, mainly selling SSI and VIC of biggest private conglomerate Vingroup.

    The HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small caps list, was down 2.07 percent while the UPCoM-Index at the Unliste

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  • Cryptominers unplug rigs as bottom falls out of market

    Cryptominers unplug rigs as bottom falls out of market

    Cryptominers are powering down operations, even selling equipment, as cryptocurrency prices continue to plummet. Nguyen Binh, a cryptominer in the southern Dong Nai Province, said his rigs can mine almost one Ethereum (around $2,000) a month, but hardly breaks even.

    “Electricity bills have taken away half of what I earned. With depreciation and operation and maintenance costs, I am losing money.

    “If prices of Bitcoin or Ethereum (the two largest cryptocurrencies) cannot recover in the next few months, more miners will have to shut down their machines.”

    He estimated that miners are losing 30-40 percent on selling graphic processing units, a key component in mining.Minh Nghia, administrator of a mining group, said some miners have disassembled their rigs to resell but are unable to find buyers despite falling prices.

    “Some told me they sold all their hardware and tokens but still cannot recoup their losses.

    “Financially independent miners can keep mining and wait until prices increase, but those who borrowed are finding themselves in hot water: They either sell their equipment and suffer losses or keep mining and cannot pay electricity bills and interest.”

    Experienced miner Tan Ha said many have unplugged their rigs.

    “GPUs, like other electronic devices, have a certain lifespan. It is not ideal to keep them running amid a plummeting crypto market, and so some miners choose to power down operations until prices recover.

    He said there is a high chance that prices might not recover for a long time.

    Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has fallen to $28,720 on May 18, the lowest in two years and down by half compared to its all-time peak of over $68,000 last November.

    Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies overall have lost nearly $800 billion in market value in the past month, according to data site CoinMarketCap, as investors fret about tightening monetary policy.

  • Vietnam Airlines posts $113 mln Q1 loss

    Vietnam Airlines posts $113 mln Q1 loss

    Vietnam Airlines remained in the red in Q1 despite revenues rising to a two-year high, with net losses of VND2.62 trillion (US$113.1 million). Revenues were up 55 percent year-on-year to VND11.6 trillion, the highest since 2020, when Covid-19 started to cripple the aviation industry.

    But it reported a ninth consecutive quarterly loss, with a total gross loss from the sales of products and services of around VND1.6 trillion due to higher costs. Fuel, for example, cost VND465 billion more than budgeted and accounted for 30 percent of transport costs.

    The carrier said the results clearly reflected the impact of Covid on the aviation industry despite the relatively quick recovery by the domestic market. Meanwhile, international services remain in limbo, and the Russia-Ukraine crisis has driven fuel prices up sharply.

    As of March 31, Vietnam Airlines’ accumulated losses were VND24.5 trillion, some VND2.16 trillion higher than its charter capital. The management said the airline could “basically maintain its liquidity until this year-end” based on the expected recovery by the industry.

    But it also sought the government’s support to ensure liquidity and seeks to accelerate the restructuring of subsidiaries and associates.

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  • Subaru Is Building A Dedicated EV Plant In Japan

    Subaru Is Building A Dedicated EV Plant In Japan

    Subaru is another Japanese automotive player which is suddenly turning turtle and announcing massive investments in electric powertrains. It has announced plans to build a dedicated EV assembly plant in 2027 as a part of a multi-billion dollar investment toward electrification in the next 5 years. Its CEO Tomomi Nakamura has outlined a plan which was announced on May 12 when it announced its earnings.

    Its 2023 Solterra EV will be made at Toyota’s Motomachi assembly plant in Japan which is the same plant where Toyota is making its first EV the bZ4X. But in the future, the plan for Subaru is to make its EVs in-house.

    Nakamura has said that initially, Subaru will make its EVs in a mixed production scenario with internal combustion engine vehicles in its Yajima plant in Japan in the mid-2020s. But from 2027, the EVs will be made at a dedicated factory on the site of the Oizumi plant which is currently making engines and transmissions.

    “Two or three years ago, U.S. retailers were not asking about EVs at all. But in this last year, it’s suddenly increased,” said Nakamura indicating that this transformation is being driven by the US market.

    Subaru has announced an investment of $2.05 billion. It expects 40 per cent of its global sales to come from EVs and hybrids by 2030. The Solterra EV will be the first model which starts at $44,995 in the US and will also be eligible for the $7,500 tax credit and other state incentives.

  • Aeon Mall wants four more Hanoi projects

    Aeon Mall wants four more Hanoi projects

    Japanese retail giant Aeon Mall wants to invest in 3-4 more projects in Hanoi by 2025. At a recent meeting with Hanoi Party secretary Dinh Tien Dung, Nagakawa Tetsuyuki, general director of Aeon Mall Vietnam, said the Aeon Mall Hoang Mai project is now in its last preparation stages for investment. It has enough funds, personnel and equipment to begin construction right after investment procedures are completed, he said.

    Aeon Mall is currently operating six projects in Vietnam, including two malls in Hanoi’s Long Bien and Ha Dong districts. It plans to launch 16 more projects in Vietnam by 2025.

    Tetsuyuki said he hopes Hanoi will continue its support so the Aeon Mall Hoang Mai project can begin construction in the third quarter. The firm has also requested the city to support the establishment of another Aeon Mall project in Bac Tu Liem District.

    Hanoi Party Secretary Dinh Tien Dung said the capital would improve its investment environment and streamline policies to attract investments from both inside and outside Vietnam. He said Hanoi was attentive to supporting the Aeon Mall Hoang Mai project and would request relevant agencies to cooperate with Bac Tu Liem authorities.

    Hanoi deputy chairman of Nguyen Manh Quyen said he would request relevant authorities to complete legal procedures regarding the Aeon Mall Hoang Mai project so construction can begin as planned. Regarding the Bac Tu Liem project, Quyen said the proposed location has been earmarked for a park, so the city will request authorities to propose another location for it.

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  • Auto sales extends growth

    Auto sales extends growth

    Vietnam’s auto sales reached 42,359 units in April, with most major brands posting double-digit to triple-digit growth, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

    This figure marked a 40 percent increase from the same period last year and brought four-month sales to 123,931 units, up 33 percent, said VAMA, which does not incorporate data of VinFast and TC Motor (assembler of Hyundai cars).

    Most top-selling brands posted a double-digit increase in sales compared to March last year.

    Truong Hai auto remained the top seller with 14,569 units, up 41.5 percent year on year.

    It was followed by Toyota with a 55.3 percent growth to 8,694 units.

    Honda and Suzuki saw a tripling in their sales, with the former rising by 216 percent to 6,100 units, and the latter by 173 percent to 1,111.

    Ford’s sales bucked the trend with a 25 percent drop to 1,933 units.

    With data from all brands included, the sedan Honda City was the top-selling model in Vietnam last month at 3,013 units. It was followed by the sedan Toyota Vios and the SUV Toyota Corolla Cross.

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