Saigon Co.op remains biggest retailer in Vietnam: executive

Saigon Co.op, a state-run cooperative, posted a revenue of VND30,888 billion ($1.32 billion) in 2022, up 0.7% year-on-year, CEO Nguyen Anh Duc reported to HCMC Chairman Phan Van Mai on Monday.

Such a figure again topped the list of retailers in Vietnam, Duc said.

In 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered firm eyes a growth of 4.5% and strives to improve customer service quality and develop sectors of e-commerce and logistics based on the strength of retail, its core business, he added.

Saigon Co.op raked in VND1.2 trillion ($51.18 million) from the e-commerce sector last year. The executive also noted the achievement of serving 1.08 million customers during the eight-week period prior to the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

While Saigon Co.op gained a revenue of VND30,888 billion ($1.32 billion) in 2022, the figure for WinCommerce, the retail arm of private conglomerate Masan Group, was VND29,369 billion ($1.25 billion), down 5% year-on-year, according to Masan Group’s latest financial report. Last year, the retailer opened 730 new minimarts, totaling 3,268 stores.

FPT Retail, the retailer under technological giant FPT, posted a revenue of VND30,116 billion ($1.28 billion) in 2022, up 34% year-on-year, exceeding the annual target by 12%, its financial statement shows.

Bach Hoa Xanh, the retail unit of Mobile World Investment Corporation, made a revenue of VND28,216 billion ($1.2 billion), up 33%, overcoming negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. As of end-2021, the retail unit of Vietnam’s biggest mobile phone company operated 2,106 stores.

Thailand's Central Retail gained a revenue of 38.6 billion baht ($1.08 billion) in 2021 for its Vietnam operation. The Thai giant aims to raise its revenue in Vietnam to 100 billion baht ($2.79 billion) in the next five years and has been investing massively in the country to realize its goal.

The revenue for Vietnam operation of South Korea’s Lotte Mart fell 15.9% year-on-year to VND4,934 billion ($210.43 million), according to the Ministry of Finance’s report on foreign businesses in the country.

Vietnam’s retail sales of goods and services expanded 19.8% in 2022 to almost VND5,680 trillion ($240 billion). The value is 15% higher than that in the pre-pandemic 2019, according to the General Statistics Office.