The M&A deal to merge a giant in the retail-consumer industry is considered a bright spot for Vietnamese retail after the previous decade of being dominated by Korean, Thai and Japanese retailers recently. It also shows the desire to conquer the peak and reach out to the world of Vietnamese businessmen.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Quang said that WinCommerce is on track to reap sustainable profits in 2024. Masan Consumer Holdings is returning to the growth trajectory.
According to Mr. Quang, Masan’s core consumer business continues to record EBIT operating profit growth at 40.1% in 2023 over the same period thanks to record profits of Masan Consumer Holdings (MCH). ) and WinCommerce’s sustained profitability despite weak consumption influenced by micro and macro economic conditions.
The CrownX (TCX) retail-consumer platform recorded revenue growth of 2.6% to nearly VND 57,700 billion in 2023. Particularly in the fourth quarter of 2023, revenue reached nearly VND 16,000 billion, an increase of 3. 1% over the same period.
WCM continued its EBIT growth momentum and recorded a positive profit after tax for the grocery product group in the fourth quarter of 2023. This is an important milestone for WCM’s roadmap to reaching break-even profit after tax for the whole year. In 2023, WCM records revenue of more than 30,000 billion VND, an increase of 2.3% compared to the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2023, revenue reached VND 7,653 billion, up 3% over the same period.
Since Vingroup’s retail segment was transferred to Masan, WCM has continued to open new stores while converting and upgrading the store model.
In 2023, WCM prioritizes renovating and upgrading stores with models suitable for consumers in rural and urban areas (Win and WinMart+ rural stores). By the end of 2023, WCM will have 3,633 stores and supermarkets nationwide. Of these, a total of 1,615 stores were upgraded.
In fact, without the Covid-19 pandemic, Masan’s retail segment could have had stable profit growth. Immediately after being owned by billionaire Nguyen Dang Quang, the giant retail system began to make a profit. By the end of 2020, VinCommerce officially completed the first phase of the transformation process, recording a positive EBITDA (income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of 0.2% with an absolute value of 16 billion VND. copper.
Recently, Masan has also promoted its journey to become a leading online-offline integrated retail consumer group. According to the 2023 financial report (unaudited), Masan’s global fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) platform has shown positive results when Chinsu chili sauce is in the top 8 best-selling products on Amazon.
On the contrary, operating in many fields also makes multi-industry corporations like Masan face difficulties in the context of current high world interest rates and geopolitical instability in many parts of the world, affecting to input costs.
Recently, sharing on Nikkei Asia, Masan Group CEO Danny Le said that the WinMart supermarket chain is one of Masan’s expansion steps and the group will create conditions for new businesses to achieve good profits in the future. Mid-term.
According to Mr. Danny Le, the era of cheap money and suffering losses to gain market share has ended. The period of international investors accepting losses at a company worth billions of dollars is over, in the context of today’s high capital costs.
In 2023, Masan’s cash flow signal is also quite good. Bain Capital has invested capital in Masan. Masan can increase investment from Bain and potential investors to $500 million. Korea’s SK Group also commits to continuing its long-term companionship and is a long-term partner of Masan.
Mr. Quang’s business recorded strong growth in free cash flow, and its cash position was quite large, reaching more than 14,000 billion VND.
