Construction contractor Coteccons ventures into real estate development

Coteccons, known as Vietnam's leading construction contractor, has become a real estate project developer for the first time.

It announced it is developing a VND2,000 billion ($83.74 million) high-end apartment project named The Emerald 68 in Vinh Phu ward, Thuan An town, Binh Duong province.

Coteccons is also the contractor of the 8,000 square meter project, invested by Le Phong Group.

A project developer is a company that designs, creates and completes projects.

This is the first time Coteccons has "encroached" into the real estate field as a project developer. Previously, the private corporation had been known as an EPC contractor in civil and industrial construction.

The Emerald 68 will consist of two blocks, 39 floors high, three basements for nearly 800 apartments.

Previously, Coteccons had cooperated with Le Phong Group at the Emerald Golf View project in Binh Duong province, designed and constructed by Coteccons and Unicons Investment Construction Limited Company with a total contract value of more than VND1,400 billion ($58.62 million).

Le Phong Group has implemented more than 20 projects of townhouses, urban areas and luxury apartments in Binh Duong, southern Vietnam. Chairman and CEO of Le Phong Group Bui Nguon Phong committed that together with Coteccons they would complete the Emerald 68 project and hand it over to customers on schedule in the first quarter of 2025.

Coteccons suffered a loss of VND23.8 billion ($1.02 million) in the second quarter of this year, against a $1.92 million profit in the same period last year.

The provision for bad debts from 2018 to 2020 that Coteccons called "past burdens", along with the current difficulties in the real estate and construction sector, exerted great pressure on the company's Q2 profit margins, according to its financial statement.

In the first half of the year, Coteccons's net revenue and after-tax profit reached VND5,193 billion ($222.4 million) and VND5.4 billion ($231,200), almost flat and down 18 times compared to the same period last year, respectively.

After six months, Coteccons, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as CTD, had fulfilled only 34.6% of the year’s revenue plan and 25% of the year's profit target.

At the closing session on Tuesday, CTD shares were priced at VND50,000 ($2.09) per unit.