Construction giant Hoa Binh appoints new general director after 1-year vacancy

Vietnam’s leading construction contractor Hoa Binh (HBC) has appointed Le Van Nam as general director from June 1.

Previously, on July 23, 2022, Le Viet Hieu, son of chairman Le Viet Hai, had resigned. Nam was also appointed HBC's representative at HoaBinh House JSC, a member of Hoa Binh Construction Group. Nguyen Khanh Hoang has been named deputy general director of HBC.

Nam, born in 1976, majored in civil engineering at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. From 2001-2010, he was a supervisory engineer, deputy commander, chief commander, and project director of HBC. He held the position of project manager on important projects including Vincom Tower, Sunrise Tower, and Era Town.

From 2011 to 2014, Nam was the project manager of the Hoa Binh Construction Project in Malaysia. From 2014 to 2019, he held the position of deputy general director in charge of HBC's northern region.

In 2019, Hoa Binh issued a resolution to unanimously approve Le Van Nam's resignation from the position of deputy general director in charge of the northern region from July 1, 2019. He no longer appeared on the list of HBC leaders published since 2019.

Hoa Binh has also approved the departure of David Martin Ruiz from its board for the 2022-2027 term. Ruiz's resignation was approved at HBC's 2023 annual general meeting of shareholders.

In addition, HBC's board of directors approved the dismissal of a series of important positions, including: HBC deputy general director Truong Quang Nhat; HBC chief accountant Pham Quoc Thang; and chairman and board member of HoaBinh House JSC Le Viet Hai.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) had announced the transfer of HBC's share status from controlled to restricted trading starting May 23, due to late submission of its 2022 audited financial statement by more than 45 days. Accordingly, HBC shares will not be traded in the morning from next Tuesday, May 23.

Hoa Binh reported a net loss of more than VND440 billion ($18.75 million) in the first three months of 2023, marking its second quarterly loss in a row. The corporation recorded a revenue of nearly VND1.2 trillion ($51.14 million) in the period, down nearly 60% year-on-year, according to its financial statement.

It posted a gross loss of more than VND200 billion ($8.52 million) from its main activities, compared to a gross profit of nearly VND200 billion in Q1/2022.

By the end of Q1, Hoa Binh's total assets had reached nearly VND15.7 trillion ($669 million), down over VND1.2 trillion ($51.14 million) from the beginning of the year.

Its accumulated losses by the end of Q1/2023 were more than VND1.1 trillion ($46.88 million), equivalent to more than 40% of its charter capital (VND2.74 trillion).

HBC closed the Friday trading session at VND7,850 ($0.33) per share.