Food chain Golden Gate incurs first loss in 14 years

Golden Gate, a major developer and operator of full-service restaurants in Vietnam, recorded a loss of over VND430 billion ($18.8 million) last year, its first ever loss since 2008, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its revenue decreased 27.2% year-on-year to $145 million, according to the company's financial statement.

Golden Gate's financial expenses reached $1.9 million last year, up 112.6%, mainly due to sharp increases in capital costs as the company issued three-year bonds for $21.3 million.

In March, Golden Gate said that three of its shareholders would transfer their stakes in the coming time. Among them, Prosperity Food Concepts Pte. Ltd. has registered to sell more than 2.5 million shares to divest its entire 32.9% stake.

Its Chairman Tran Viet Trung plans to sell 161,871 shares among the total of 337,891 he owns. Deputy CEO Nguyen Xuan Tuong will sell 69,373 shares out of his 304,115.

As planned, these shares would be transferred to three new shareholders from Singapore, namely Seletar Investments Pte. Ltd. (part of Singapore’s state-run Temasek Holdings), SeaTown Private Capital Master Fund, and Periwinkle Pte. Ltd. The deal value is not disclosed.

Assessment by Vietnam’s Valuation and International Investment Consulting JSC last August showed Golden Gate’s market capitalization was about $650 million then. Based on this, the three Singapore investors’ total spending is estimated at $234 million to hold a 36% stake at Golden Gate.

Currently, SeaTown Private Capital Master Fund reportedly manages more than $1 billion in assets, and it is under the Temasek roof. Putting Seletar and SeaTown together, Temasek would spend an estimated $196 million to own more than 2.3 million shares of Golden Gate, or an almost 30% stake.