HCMC-based infrastructure developer forecasts zero revenue from real estate in 2024

Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) is targeting VND4.2 trillion ($165 million) in revenue this year, a drop of nearly 11% year-on-year, as income from its main segment - real estate - is forecast to be zero, said CEO Le Quoc Binh.

“Zero revenue from real estate will continue until 2025 because legal problems will not be removed soon,” he noted at the 2024 AGM on Tuesday.

With the current speed of removing legal obstacles, it will be difficult for the company to generate real estate revenue in 2024 and 2025, he added.

CII is aiming for an after-tax profit of VND430 billion ($16.89 million) in 2024, an increase of 10% from 2023.

In particular, the company expects the toll collection segment to achieve revenue of about VND2.44 trillion ($95.82 million), up nearly 45% from 2023.

The growth will come from the increase in toll rates on the expanded National Highway 1 section in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan and consolidated revenue from the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway project since the beginning of the year.

According to Binh, as the need to contribute more capital to ongoing projects is not as high as before, CII will focus on paying off mature and pre-mature debts to reduce interest costs and repay all the parent company’s debt.

Increased equity and reduced financial debt will help the company prepare about VND10-30 trillion ($1.18 billion) to invest in large-scale projects in the coming time, he stated.

At the end of Q1/2024, the company had a debt of more than VND20.1 trillion ($789.33 million), double its equity and six times its charter capital.

The CEO elaborated that with BOT (build-operate-transfer) project investment activities, the investment capital structure usually includes 11% equity and 89% debt, which means debt is nine times greater than equity. Therefore, the company's debt ratio is extremely safe in BOT investment, Binh affirmed.

On the other hand, in BOT investment, toll revenue will expand over time thanks to increasing vehicle traffic and ticket prices, he added.

However, in the upcoming period, the state will no longer guarantee BOT investments, so its revenue will depend on vehicle traffic and ticket prices. Therefore, the debt ratio must be 1:1 to ensure safety, Binh noted.

According to Binh, the company has prepared for this situation. In the past year, it has issued bonds converted into shares and will continue to issue more.

"The company needs to increase equity capital to suit the new environment," he noted.

During the 2018-2022 period, CII continuously issued bonds, but Binh said that no bond interest or principal has ever transpired. In 2023-2024, the company will focus on interest and bond repayments. In 2025, CII will start to invest again as its debt burden will be much lighter, ticket prices will increase, and bond debt pressure will be lifted.

In its strategy, the CEO said CII will continue to promote research on new transport infrastructure projects, especially when the legislature’s Resolution 18 creates distinct mechanisms for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in HCMC.

The company will operate the real estate segment stably, promote the lease of offices and commercial areas, and complete legal documents for projects.

Binh revealed that the company has basically completed negotiations for the signing of a contract to acquire an infrastructure project in late June or early July. The company has arranged 100% investment capital for the project, including equity capital and bank financing.

According to the plan, the project will be put into operation in the first quarter of 2025, with a total investment of VND1.6 trillion ($62.86 million). After taking over the project, CII will propose to double the investment because this road has been likened to the backbone of six southeastern provinces, he said, adding the current four-lane road does not meet travel needs.

At the meeting, shareholders approved a dividend plan at a rate of 16% per year for the 2023-2024 period, depending on the financial situation after contributing to funds and completing debt obligations. The CII leadership said they will try their best to maintain the annual cash dividend rate of 16%.