Tis the season for shareholders’ meetings

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Early birds include Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), which held its annual shareholders’ meeting on March 6, 2015. The mobile phone and electrical product retailer went public in July 2014 and recorded an after-tax profit of VND673 billion ($32 million) for 2014, doubling its 2013 performance.

During the meeting, MWG predicted that its 2015 profit levels would increase by 31 per cent to VND886 billion ($42 million) by opening more stores and increasing online trading activity. The firm also planned to issue 28 million common shares to current investors in 2015, together with seven million employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) shares to its employees.

Upcoming meetings from March 19 to 31 include the series of funds from Viet Fund Management, namely VFMVFA, VFMVF4, VFMVF1, the bond fund VFMVFB and the first domestic ETF fund VFMVN30. This will be the first annual investors’ meeting for VFMVN30 as the fund was launched in July 2014.

At the same time, Refrigeration and Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE) is scheduled to hold its annual meeting on March 27. During the meeting, REE will appoint two new members for its management and oversight boards, as well as pay dividends for 2014 with the payout ratio of 16 per cent, all in cash. This ratio is similar to that of 2013.

Hoa Phat Group (HPG), a major Vietnamese metal manufacturing firm, will also organise its shareholders’ meeting on March 31. Its planned dividend payout ratio for 2014 is 30 per cent, with 10 per cent in cash and the remainder in stocks. In 2014, HPG collected VND3.1 billion ($145 million) in profits, far exceeding the annual target. However, its target for 2015 is only 80 per cent of this figure.

Meanwhile, most annual meetings in the banking sector are to be held in April, with Vietinbank, Export Import Bank and Vietcombank holding their meetings on April 14, 22 and 24, respectively. A wide range of other listed firms will also meet with their investors next month.