Vietnam’s steel giant Hoa Sen spends $34 mln on land near Long Thanh airport for urban development

Hoa Sen Group (HoSE: HSG), Vietnam’s top producer of coated steel products, has spent VND900 billion ($34.3 million) acquiring land for a major urban development project in the southern province of Dong Nai.

The transaction, signed on June 12, 2024, was recorded as a long-term advance payment to the land seller, according to HSG’s Q3 financial statement for fiscal year 2024-2025 (April-June 2025).

Additionally, other long-term receivables related to land purchase prepayments amounted to VND543 billion ($20.7 million).

This move aligns with statements made by chairman Le Phuoc Vu at Hoa Sen’s 2025 AGM earlier this year. At the meeting, Vu reaffirmed the company’s ambition to expand into real estate by capitalizing on development opportunities surrounding the under-construction Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai.

“Hoa Sen aims to invest in an urban area project covering 600-700 hectares in Long Thanh commune,” Vu stated, emphasizing the group’s strong financial capacity and cost advantage in building materials.

In May, Hoa Sen also formed a joint venture with Ngoc Long 276 Co., Ltd. to join bids for two social housing projects in Dong Nai. The first project involves a 478-unit apartment complex in Bien Hoa with an investment of over VND700 billion ($26.7 million), while the second is a 1,800-unit development in Nhon Trach, worth VND1.04 trillion ($39.67 million).

For the third fiscal quarter (April-June), Hoa Sen posted revenue of VND9.51 trillion ($362.7 million), down 12% year-on-year. Net profit reached VND274 billion ($10.45 million), almost flat compared to the same period last year.

Over the first nine months of the fiscal year starting October 2024, the group reported revenue of VND28.18 trillion ($1.07 billion), down 3% year-on-year. Its net profit fell 7% to VND647 billion ($24.68 million), exceeding its most ambitious profit target by 30%.

HSG shares closed up 3.43% to VND19,600 ($0.76) each on Thursday.

Long Thanh International Airport, under construction in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai, is expected to join global mega airports capable of handling at least 100 million passenger arrivals annually by the next decade, said a report by UK-based aviation analytics firm OAG.

OAG lists Long Thanh alongside five other major Asian airports expected to join the elite 100-million-passenger club: Singapore’s Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, and the upcoming New Manila International Airport in the Philippines.