Major Vietnamese developer Novaland appoints new CEO

Duong Van Bac, who joined Novaland as chief financial officer in August 2023, has been appointed general director, starting Friday.

Bac replaced Ng Teck Yow who remains a member of the board of directors. Previously, in September, Bac had been appointed deputy general director.

Novaland, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as NVL, said such a senior personnel change is part of the company's comprehensive restructuring process, which would help it steadily overcome challenges and develop sustainably.

Bac holds a master’s degree in finance and banking from CFVG (European Excellence in Management Education), and has more than 17 years of experience in the field of finance and real estate. His strengths are in valuation, fund raising, and investment.

He was appointed general director in the context that Novaland is facing the biggest difficulties in its history, especially in terms of cash flow and bond debt.

The real estate developer said that after more than 20 months of comprehensive restructuring efforts, it has successfully restructured most of its current debts, and mobilized many new capital sources to bolster project construction.

Novaland added that it is receiving solid support from the Government and local authorities to remove legal obstacles for key projects. The firm expects to achieve certain legal milestones for its projects by the end of this year.

A series of key projects such as NovaWorld Ho Tram, NovaWorld Phan Thiet, Aqua City, and the cluster of projects in the center of Ho Chi Minh City have been accelerated for handovers.

Novaland reported its after-tax profit hit VND2.95 trillion ($166.62 million) in the third quarter of this year, a 21.6-fold rise year-on-year. The remarkable increase was primarily driven by a surge in financial revenue which had previously been excluded by auditors.

For the nine-month period, the real estate developer recorded an after-tax loss of VND4,377 billion ($173 million), much heavier than the loss of VND958 billion in the same period last year.

On the stock market, NVL closed Friday at VND10,350 ($0.41) per share.