Leading dairy firm Vinamilk's 2022 profit falls 19% to $366 mln

Post-tax profit of Vinamilk, Vietnam’s leading dairy producer, dropped 19.3% year-on-year to VND8,578 billion ($365.8 million) in 2022, fulfilling 88% of its target.

Vinamilk, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as VNM, posted net revenue of VND59,960 billion ($2.56 billion), down 1.58% year-on-year. Notably, the cost of sales increased by 4.09% to VND36,059 billion ($1.54 billion), according to the firm’s financial report.

This was the first time VNM’s post-tax profit fell below the VND10,000 billion ($426.48 million) mark since 2016. VNM’s foreign ownership limit has been lifted to 100%.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, VNM earned a post-tax profit of VND1,869 billion ($79.7 million), down 15.5% year-on-year, on net revenue of VND15,069 billion ($642.7 million), down 4.74%. The dairy giant attributed such decreased figures to the sharp increase in the price of raw materials.

According to VNM, Vietnam’s dynamic dairy industry is worth $5 billion. Dairy consumption hit 21.8 kilograms per capita in 2019, below the regional average of 26.7 kilograms, indicating a sizeable downside.

The giant quoted data from market researcher AC Nielsen as saying that Vietnam’s dairy industry grew 5% in value in the first 11 months of last year, while volume remained unchanged, attributing these changes to higher selling prices amid rising production costs.

Last year, the dairy business opened nearly 40 new Vinamilk stores in a move to ensure sustainable distribution solutions. As of end-2022, Vinamilk’s distribution system reached more than 230,000 points nationwide, including nearly 650 Vinamilk stores.