A PNJ store in HCM City. The company reported profit after tax of 147 billion VND in October, up nearly 23 per cent over the same period last year.(Photo courtesy of PNJ) ETFs recently have made a net purchase of stocks on the Vietnamese stockmarket, including retail stocks such as PNJ of the Phu Nhuan Jewelry JointStock Company, FRT of the FPT Digital Retail Joint Stock Company (FPT Retail).
Of them, Vietnam Equity Fund became a major shareholder of FPT Retail afterraising the ownership rate of FRT shares to over 5%. DC Development Market Fundhas bought more PNJ shares, bringing the holding volume to more than 3.7million units, equivalent to an ownership rate of more than 1.5%. Foreign fundsare holding more than 9% of PNJ shares.
Many individual investors also put their faith in retail stocks. Nguyen VanThang, living in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi said: “Previously, despite thegeneral impact of the market, FRT was still stable because of the long-termprospects of the business. I have faith in this stock.”
Mohammad Mudasser, leader of PwC Vietnam's working capital managementconsulting service, said that investors should consider stocks in theconsumer-retail sector, because based on people's income and increasing youngpopulation, this industry has great potential.
Regarding the stock market outlook, Nguyen Trong Dinh Tam, deputy director ofinvestment strategy at SSI Research, SSI Securities Company (SSI), said thatthe market was confirming the short-term uptrend with soaring sessions. TheVN-Index recovered strongly from nearly 900 points in mid-November to 1,080points at the end of last week, equivalent to an increase of 20%, with highliquidity.
In the retail group, as of December 2, 2022, PNJ price increased by 22.2%compared to November 15; FRT price increased by 21.1% compared to November 15;DGW of Digital World Joint Stock Company (Digiworld) increased by 29.8%compared to November 24; and MWG of the Mobile World Investment Joint StockCompany increased by 24.6% compared to November 24.
Medium and long-term prospects
PNJ has just announced business results in October 2022 with revenue of 2.96trillion VND (124 million USD), up more than 42%. Profit after tax reached 147billion VND, up nearly 23% over the same period last year.
In the first 10 months of 2022, PNJ recorded revenue of 28.53 trillion VND, up96%. Profit after tax was 1.48 trillion VND, up 118% over the same period lastyear, exceeding the performance of the whole year of 2021.
SSI forecasts that PNJ's profit in 2022 may reach 1.8 trillion VND and in 2023will reach 2.1 trillion VND.
FPT Retail's revenue is expected to remain positive thanks to the record-highiPhone orders and increased TV sales for the 2022 World Cup.
However, FPT Retail was under competitive pressure after Mobile World Group(MWG) established the Topzone chain - a chain of stores specialising inproviding genuine Apple products - which could directly affect the revenue ofApple products, which accounts for one-third of total sales of FPT Shop andF.Studio chains of FPT Retail.
In 2022, DSC Securities Company estimates that revenue and profit of FPT Retailwill reach 28.05 trillion VND and 450 billion VND, up 24% and 1.56% compared to2021. FPT Retail aims to increase the number of stores to 1,000 by the end of2022, up by 200 stores compared to the previous plan.
The growth momentum of FPT Retail's Long Chu pharmacy chain may be affected bythe fact that the demand for drugs and medical supplies is no longer as high asduring the COVID-19 pandemic. Competitive pressure in the market is graduallyincreasing, partially due to newly-opened Mobile World Group (MWG)'s An Khangpharmacy chain.
However, recently, the Board of Directors of FPT Retail approved a resolutionto contribute an additional 225 billion VND to the FPT Long Chau PharmaceuticalJoint Stock Company, corresponding to buying 22.5 million more shares at theprice of 10,000 VND per share, thereby increasing the ownership rate from 85.07%to 89.83% of the charter capital of Long Chau.
For MWG, the revenue in October 2022 decreased, in which the revenue of allthree store chains, namely Mobile World, Dien May Xanh and Bach Hoa Xanh, waslower than expected, showing the initial impact of inflation on the purchasingpower of consumers.
Nguyen Duc Tai, Chairman of MWG's Board of Directors, expects that in thefourth quarter of 2023, Bach Hoa Xanh will be profitable. In 2023, Bach Hoa Xanhhas a strategy to attract customers to the supermarket with promotions.
Bach Hoa Xanh is gradually closing the gap with traditional markets andsupermarkets, expecting to attract more new customers thanks to conveniencefactors, which is the main driver for revenue growth in the future.
Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company (VRE) expects the retail rental segment togrow positively in 2023. Its profit in the first nine months of 2022 reached 1.94trillion VND, an increase of 63% over the same period in 2021, mainly thanks tothe simultaneous opening of big brands at Vincom shopping centres.
According to Viet Capital Securities Company, Vincom Retail may open newshopping centres in 2023, affirming its position as the leading commercialcentre investor in the industry.
Statistics from the General Statistics Office show that the total retail salesof consumer goods and services in November 2022 was estimated at 514.1 trillionVND, up 2.6% compared to October and 17.5% compared to 2021. In the first 11months of 2022, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services wereestimated at 5.18 quadrillion VND, up 20.5% over the same period of 2021.
According to Nick Bradstreet, Savills' Asia-Pacific Head of Retail, Vietnam isone of two prominent retail markets in Southeast Asia besides Thailand.Globally, especially companies with offices in Singapore are researchinginvestment opportunities in this country./.
VNA
