Vincom Retail to expand land fund as 'very big opportunities' unfold

Vincom Retail JSC, owner of the Vincom shopping mall chain, will not pay dividends yet as it needs to expand land fund to cash in on "very big opportunities".

Pham Thi Ngoc Ha, Vincom Retail's chief financial officer, made the statement at the company's (HoSE: VRE) AGM in Hanoi on Wednesday.

"Other retail space developers are increasing the scale of their land funds. Vincom Retail also wants to take advantage of the very big opportunities to enhance its competitive edge, in the context that land funds are increasingly scarce," she added.

At the meeting, Vincom Retail shareholders approved the net revenue target of about VND9,520 billion ($367 million) for 2025, up 6% from 2024.

Of this, revenue from leasing and related services will reach VND9,300 billion or $358.5 million (up 15%), while revenue from real estate transfers will be about VND220 billion or $8.48 million (down 74%).

The target of profit after tax is about VND4,700 billion ($181.2 million), up nearly 15% year-on-year.

In 2024, Vincom Retail's total consolidated net revenue hit VND8,939 billion ($344.6 million) and profit after tax was VND4,096 billion ($157.9 million), down 9% and 7% respectively from 2023.

Pham Thu Hien, general director of Vincom Retail, said that the company's Q1 revenue was estimated to fulfil 22% of the year's target, while profit after tax about 25% of the plan, which was 10% higher than the same period last year.

The specific figures were over VND2,094 billion and VND1,190.2 billion ($45.88 million), respectively.

Tran Hong Duong, director of investment at Vincom Retail, said that basically, since the divestment of Vingroup, the company has not changed much in terms of operating apparatus compared to the previous years.

Regarding President Trump tariffs, he noted that Vincom Retail's business mainly focuses on the domestic market, so changes in the tariffs will not directly affect the company. "However, there may be indirect impact".

The growth rate of the retail market in Q1 improved compared to last year, according to Duong. The retail market grew only about 8.7-9% last year, but in Q1 this year, the figure was about 19.9%.

"This shows that shoppers are returning, while the impact of Trump tariffs is not yet clear. However, to be cautious, we expect the retail market growth in 2025 to be slightly higher than in 2024," he told the shareholders.

Vingroup earned VND21.33 trillion ($834.13 million) from selling its stake in mall operator Vincom Retail last year.

In 2024, Vingroup (HoSE: VIC) decided to sell a 100% stake in SDI Trading Development and Investment JSC, which owns a 99% stake in Sado, the largest shareholder of Vincom Retail with a 41.5% stake.

According to its 2024 audited consolidated earnings report, Vingroup stated that the sale was conducted between March and September 2024 through three transactions, without disclosing the buyer’s identity.