Hoang Anh Gia Lai reports first loss

According to the recently published consolidated financial statement for the fourth quarter of 2015, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HoSE: HAG) earned VND1.05 trillion ($47 million) in revenue, up VND394 billion ($17.7 million) on-year, mostly due to the VND396 billion ($17.75 million) from selling cattle, while in the fourth quarter of 2014 it didn’t do so.

Notably, financing costs in the quarter went up VND155 billion ($7 million) on-year, mostly because the bank interest and bond interest was VND123 billion ($5.5 million) higher than last year.

Other costs increased by VND413 billion ($18.5) on-year, due to selling equipment from its mining business.

In the same quarter of 2014 the company reported profits of VND42 billion ($1.9 million). For 2015, HAG earned a revenue of VND6.25 trillion ($280.3 million), more than twice that of 2014, but the company’s net profit was only VND678 billion ($30.4 million), roughly half of the previous year’s.

As of December 31, 2015, HAG’s basic construction costs rose by VND10 trillion ($448 million), to VND21.3 trillion ($955 million), mostly produced by the VND10.63 trillion ($476.7 million) project to plant rubber trees and palms, the construction of HAGL Myanmar, which amounted to VND5.5 trillion, and the VND3.3 trillion ($148 million) hydropower plant.

As of December 31, 2015, HAG’s total assets stood at VND48.6 trillion ($2.18 billion), up VND12 trillion ($538 million) compared to the end of 2014, while liabilities were VND32.6 trillion ($1.46 billion), up VND11 trillion ($493 million). Short-term liabilities are VND12.8 trillion ($574 million), while long-term liabilities are VND19.8 trillion ($888 million).

Analysts commented that after switching focus to agriculture three years ago, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has yet to reap the desirable results in sugarcane and rubber production or husbandry. The price of HAG stocks fell by 122 per cent in 2015. A favourite among foreign investors before 2015, the company saw its foreign investors decreasing their holdings from 34 per cent to 14 per cent as of January 2016.