Honda, Unilever, Heineken top foreign taypayers in Vietnam

Automaker Honda remained the biggest foreign taxpayer in Vietnam in 2022, according to the General Department of Taxation’s latest list of the top 1,000 contributors of corporate income tax (CIT).

According to the list released by the tax authority on its website Wednesday, other top foreign or foreign-invested taxpayers were Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen, Samsung Electronics Vietnam, Unilever Vietnam, Heineken Vietnam, Toyota Vietnam, Shinhan Bank Vietnam, Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam, Samsung Display Vietnam, and CP Vietnam.

In comparison with the 2021 list, two new names were Shinhan Bank Vietnam and Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam, pushing Hitachi Astemo Vietnam and Suntory Pepsico Vietnam out of the top 10.

Honda

Motorcycle and automaker Honda Vietnam was established in 1996 as a joint venture between Japan’s Honda Motor, Thailand-based Asian Honda, and Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corp.

As the biggest motorbike brand in Vietnam, Honda recorded sales of 990,227 units in April-September this year (first months of its fiscal year 2024), down 10% year-on-year, according to Honda’s September report. Besides, the export figure reached 16,223 units. For vehicles, 10,702 were sold in the same period, down 32.9%.

Samsung

Samsung is one of the biggest foreign companies operating in Vietnam. About 60% of Samsung smartphones worldwide are made in Vietnam.

Samsung's four subsidiaries in Vietnam made a total profit of KRW2,999 billion ($2.26 billion) in the first half of this year, down 11.2% year-on-year, according to the South Korean tech giant's interim business report.

In the same period, sales at the four subsidiaries, namely Samsung HCMC CE Complex (SEHC) in Ho Chi Minh City, Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) and Samsung Display Vietnam (SDV) in Bac Ninh province, and Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) in Thai Nguyen province, dropped 18.1% year-on-year to KRW38,690 billion ($29.18 billion).

Unilever Vietnam

Established in 1995, Unilever Vietnam has become one of the most successful corporations in the country’s fast-moving consumer goods industry.

Unilever's turnover exceeded the milestone of 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) in Vietnam in 2022 thanks to broad-based double-digit growth, the consumer goods giant said. Vietnam is now Unilever's 12th biggest market with enormous potential, thanks to a thriving economy and the leading positions its brands hold in many categories, according to a company release early this week.

Almost 80% of brands across its portfolio are top in terms of sales and consumer choice. About 35 million Unilever products are consumed daily in Vietnam, company data shows.

Heineken Vietnam

The Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered brewery is a joint venture between Dutch brewing company Heineken and HCMC’s Saigon Trading Group. The company grew from its first brewery in HCMC in 1991 to six nationwide with over 3,000 employees today, according to its data.

The firm offers a wide product portfolio with several brands like Heineken, Tiger, Larue, Bivina, Bia Viet, Strongbow, and Edelweiss.

Vietnam contributed significantly to a 5.6% year-on-year fall in Heineken's global sales in the first half of the year, said the leading beer maker. In its H1 report, Heineken said the economic slowdown in Vietnam, especially in major cities, continued into the second quarter and disproportionally impacted the premium beer segment.

In particular, Heineken’s net revenue in Vietnam declined by over 20% as the result of a 25% fall in sales volume. The brewer estimated that the total market was down by high single-digits in the second quarter, according to CEO Dolf van den Brink.

Vietnam’s beer market retail sales value reached EUR11 billion ($12.07 billion) in 2022, Heineken said in a recent review, adding that it held the leading market position in the country. In the report, Heineken said Vietnam’s beer market volume hit 46 million hectoliters, up 3.6% against 2021.

Toyota Vietnam

A leader in terms of market share in the country, the Japanese carmaker was one of Vietnam’s first auto joint ventures. Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) was founded in September 1995 with $89.6 million in investment by Japan’s Toyota (70%), Vietnam Engine and Agriculture Machinery Corp. (20%), and Kuo Singapore Pte.Ltd (10%).

TMV operates a 70,000-car-per year factory in Vinh Phuc province, employing about 1,500 people, according to its website.

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), not including VinFast and Hyundai, sold 209,929 vehicles in January-September this year, down 29% year-on-year. Of which, Toyota was the best-selling brand among VAMA members with 38,490 units.

Shinhan Bank Vietnam

In August, Shinhan Bank officially marked 30 years in Vietnam and is proud to be a “trusted financial partner” for millions of Vietnamese customers, the bank said. The South Korean bank established its first representative office in Ho Chi Minh City in August 1993, not long after Vietnam and Korea officially established diplomatic relations. In December 1994, Shinhan Bank was formally approved by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to open its Ho Chi Minh City branch, becoming the first Korean bank to establish a branch in Vietnam.

Shinhan Bank Vietnam Ltd. posted post-tax profits of VND2.39 trillion ($99.4 million) in the first half of this year, up 48.23% year-on-year. According to the bank’s half-year report, its return on equity (ROE) improved from 14.07% from H1/2022 to 17.47% in H1/2023. Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) rose from 17.13% in end-June 2022 to 20.43% in end-June 2023

Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam

Automaker Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam is a joint venture between South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Vietnam’s TC Group. In August, it unveiled its IONIQ 5 electric vehicle (EV). The release marked Hyundai’s first high-tech EV to be made in Vietnam, paving the way for Hyundai to bring more EV models to the country and build a developed eco-system for users.

Outside VAMA, Hyundai reported sales of 41,168 units in January-September, according to a report by TC Group, the manufacturer and official retailer of Hyundai vehicles in Vietnam. Hyundai was the best-selling brand in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year.

CP Vietnam

The Thai corporation established its first animal feed factory in Vietnam in the southern province of Dong Nai in 1993, focusing on feed, farms and food. It has since become a dominant player in the country’s livestock market. The company is an integrated agro-industrial and food subsidiary of Thailand’s C.P. Group.

Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF) recorded a revenue of THB58.23 billion ($1.64 billion) from its Vietnam operations in the first half of this year, down 6% year-on-year.