Food major Kido to complete acquiring Hung Vuong Plaza 77% stake in Q3

Vietnam’s leading food maker Kido will complete the acquisition of a 77% stake in Hung Vuong Plaza commercial center in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City in Q3/2024, CEO Tran Le Nguyen told shareholders at its 2024 AGM on Wednesday.

The executive stated that although the economy still faces many difficulties, the board of directors set a very ambitious business plan for this year with revenue of VND13 trillion ($510.75 million), a year-on-year increase of 50%, and before-tax profit of VND800 billion ($31.43 million), 2.5 times higher than 2023. The group intends to double the rate of dividends to 12%.

Kido will focus on two main areas, including cooking oil-butter and food (ice cream and cakes), which made respective revenue contributions of 73% and 27% last year, he said.

The firm now ranks second by market share in the cooking oil industry in Vietnam with prominent brands such as Tuong An, Marvela and Olita, and is No. 1 player in the margarine industry with a market share of 74.9%.

It aims to maximize retail channels, expand distribution channels, and enlarge market share to become a leader in the industry, he added.

Regarding food, the group holds a market share of 46.7% in the ice cream segment and is developing the spice segment. It also resumed the bakery segment two years ago.

According to Nguyen, one of the driving forces for this year's business results is the contribution of Tho Phat Dumplings, which was purchased by Kido in mid-2023. Tho Phat holds the leading position in the field of manufacturing dumplings and steamed buns, with its 37-year presence in the market.

He revealed that Kido will reposition the Tho Phat and My Huong brands, diversify product lines, expand its market to the central and northern regions, and build a system of 1,000 agents and 50,000 points of sale nationwide. At the same time, the group will develop the miniBAO system with 12,000 steamed bun stores.

In parallel with core business areas, the group plans to deploy the Entertainment to E-Commerce (E2E) channel on the TikTok platform, he said, adding this is an effective tool for the group in implementing marketing strategies, promoting products, testing the market, capturing consumer behavior, and especially developing sales for product lines through livestreaming.

In 2023, Kido reported VND8.65 trillion ($339.85 million) in revenue and VND135 billion ($5.3 million) in after-tax profit, down 31% and 70% from 2022 respectively. However, the board of directors still proposed to pay 6% cash dividends to shareholders.

Kido, listed on the Ho Chi Minh City (HoSE) as KDC, closed Wednesday at VND58,400 ($2.29) per share.