Consumer retail giant attracts foreign capital

Michael Hung Nguyen, deputy CEO of Masan Group, shared the journey to reap fruits since the acquisition of WinCommerce, which runs the WinMart/WinMart+/WiN chains.

“When Masan decided to venture into the retail market in late 2019, Masan’s share prices experienced a slump. Investors believed that Masan was investing in irrelevant industries like the retail market. At that time, WinCommerce’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at minus 7 per cent. Today, this figure reached positive four per cent, up 11 per cent following Masan’s acquisition of WinCommerce. We hope that WinCommerce will achieve positive profits in the third quarter of 2024,” Michael Hung Nguyen said.

Reaping fruits

The hope was quite modest when the representative spoke at a recent meeting with investors. WinCommerce continued to achieve positive NPAT in August 2024. Like-for-like growth of the minimart chain accelerated to over 10 per cent on-year, meaning consecutive profits months from June to August 2024. This marks an important milestone in WinCommerce’s retail strategy, as innovation and operational optimisation have generated healthy organic profits.

WinCommerce has elevated its position in the retail sector since the transfer in 2019. As of June 2024, WinCommerce was Vietnam’s largest grocery trade retail platform, with nearly 3,700 WinMart supermarkets, WinMart+, and WiN minimarts across 62 out of 63 localities, accounting for 50 per cent of the total modern retail chains. After 10 years of operation, the chain records 2023 revenue of VND30 trillion ($1.2 billion).

In the second quarter of 2024, WinCommerce posted VND7.84 trillion ($316 million) in revenue, up 9.2 per cent against last year. EBITDA climbed 11.1 per cent to VND172 billion ($6.92 million). In particular, Masan announced that WinCommerce recorded positive after-tax profit in August 2024.

After completing its corporate restructuring, the company plans to open 10,000 outlets by 2030. This means WinCommerce needs to open 1,000 stores per year to triple its current scale. In 2024, WinCommerce’s leaders expect 80 per cent of stores will generate profits and the retail segment will record operating profits since its acquisition.

After 10 years of operation, Vietnam’s leading retail chain has reaped fruits, marking the beginning of a sustainable growth roadmap.

Bill Gates’s philanthropic foundation becomes Masan Consumer shareholder

To achieve successful mergers and acquisitions or increase the chance of raising funds, the company needs to formulate a clear strategy to persuade and gain trust from investors. Michael Hung Nguyen proudly shared about his time working at Masan. “During 17 years of working at Masan, the group has successfully raised $5 billion. Masan is proud that investors like KKR, TPG, and SK Group have made several investments in Masan towards long-term cooperation.”

Most recently, among major investors pouring money into Masan, there is a familiar name, the billion-dollar Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. In a document seeking shareholders' opinions on making additional dividend payments for 2023, Masan Consumer (Stock code: MCH), a member company of Masan Group, disclosed the list of shareholders with voting rights. Among them, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust holds more than 1.04 million MCH shares, equivalent to more than 0.14 per cent, making it the 11th largest shareholder in Masan Consumer.

Apart from Masan Consumer, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust has never directly held shares in any Vietnamese enterprise. The company owns five brands with annual revenue over $80 million, including CHIN-SU, Omachi, Kokomi, Nam Ngu, and Wake-Up 247. In the first six months of 2024, the company posted a revenue of VND13.97 trillion ($562.3 million) and an after-tax profit of VND3.46 trillion ($139.3 million), up 11.6 per cent and 13.5 per cent, respectively, against last year’s period.

The company has plans to own $6 billion brands, implement its Go Global strategy, and become Southeast Asia’s leading company in terms of revenue and profit growth due to new fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) models.

In 2024, Masan Group is expected to achieve consolidated net revenue of VND84 trillion-VND90 trillion ($3.4 billion-$3.6 billion), an increase of 7-15 per cent over the same period in 2023. Its core net profit after tax post-minority interest is expected to reach VND2.3 trillion-VND4 trillion ($92.6 million-$160 million), an increase of more than 17 per cent and double that of 2023, respectively.

Decoding growth drivers at Masan Group Masan Group has identified its growth drivers for the rest of 2024, mainly focusing on its organic growth, consumer-focused strategy and the improved economic environment.

Vietnam’s FMCG company wants to pay cash dividends after paying the cash dividend ratio of 268 per cent for 2023 Masan Consumer concluded a list of shareholders on September 26 that will receive additional cash dividends for 2023 of 168 per cent. The company recently announced the plan to pay 2024 dividend in cash

Masan Consumer reveals IPO roadmap On October 2, Masan Consumer (Stock code: MCH) announced Resolution of the Board of Directors approving the transfer of MCH shares from UPCoM to listing on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE).