FPT prevails over COVID-19 with double-digit growth in 2020

January 28, 2021 | 18:34

(0) user say

FPT has ended 2020 on a positive note, despite COVID-19, with revenue and profit growth both soaring to respectively 7.6 and 12.8 per cent on-year due to the firm being a bright spot of Vietnam's digital transformation and overseas IT services push.

fpt prevails over covid 19 with double digit growth in 2020

FPT’s revenue and profit in 2020 soared 7.6 and 12.8 per cent on-year

At the end of 2020, FPT’s revenue and pre-tax profit reached VND29.83 trillion ($1.3 billion) and VND5.26 trillion ($228.7 million), respectively, up 7.6 and 12.8 per cent on-year. Earnings per share rose to VND4,119 (18 US cents) a share, up 12.3 per cent on-year.

Such results came as part of FPT’s quick adaptation to the instability of the economy by shifting from peacetime to "wartime-like” operation modes while insisting on safeguarding the corporate financial health, ensuring a stable cash flow, cutting down operations that did not generate revenue, or creating efficiency in the short term, and predominantly focusing on core technology investment.

Moreover, FPT also paid great attention on searching and seizing new opportunities. At the same time, the group made working procedures as well as interactions with partners and customers more flexible and creative. Last but not least, FPT promoted the sales of solution-based services and products, as well as digital transformation platforms to help global customers improve productivity, save costs, overcome crises, and achieve breakthroughs in the new normal.

IT leading the game

Breaking down FPT’s revenue structure, the IT sector contributed some 56 per cent with VND16.805 trillion ($730.65 million), an increase of 6.5 per cent on-year. Meanwhile, telecommunications accounted for 39 per cent with VND11.466 trillion ($498.5 million), an up of 10.3 per cent. Meanwhile, education and other investments took up the remaining 5 per cent of its total revenue.

With regards to the IT sector, due to the strong growth in the demand for digital transformation investment on a global scale, revenue from the newly-signed contracts added up to VND13.095 trillion ($569.35 million), an increase of 23 per cent on-year. The number of customers with revenue over $500,000 rose nearly 19 per cent while the number of projects with the scale of millions of dollars increased 38.5 per cent on-year.

Digital transformation, a strategic business activity at FPT, as a result, recorded a whooping revenue growth of 31 per cent, from VND2.453 trillion ($106.65 million) in 2019 to VND3.219 trillion ($139.96 million) in 2020.

In the telecommunications sector, thanks to good cost control and the optimisation of new services including PayTV, profit margin improved remarkably. In particular, the pre-tax profit margin of broadband services was nearly 20 per cent while other services were 12 per cent.

Revenue from the education sector, on the other hand, soared 22 per cent on-year.

Big overseas gains

IT services revenue and pre-tax profit from the overseas markets reached VND12 trillion ($521.74 million) and VND1.97 trillion ($85.65 million), respectively, representing increases of 10.6 and 14.4 per cent on-year. Markets like Japan and the Asia-Pacific, in particular, recorded high revenue growth of 9 and 28 per cent.

2020 marked a great transformation for FPT itself when the group affirmed its position as the leading technology company in Vietnam in the international arena, evident in the numerous comprehensive and large-value digital transformation consultancy contracts signed with large-size enterprises. Winning against hundreds of well-known IT companies, FPT became the No.1 partner of a leading automobile company in the US, with a contract worth some $150 million. In addition, the group secured a $200 million contract for digital transformation consultancy and the implementation of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Malaysia) and became a strategic technology partner for the world’s largest beverage company in Japan, with potential revenue of up to $100 million.

During the year, FPT also expanded globally, with four new branches opened in Canada, the Middle East, India, and Costa Rica, bringing the total number of foreign offices to 52 in 25 countries and territories. The expansion is part of the group’s prompt response to customer needs in key regions such as the US and the Asia-Pacific, and subsequently the remaining parts of the world.

At home, FPT’s revenue reached VND4.805 trillion ($208.9 million), a slight decrease of 2.6 per cent on-year, yet pre-tax profit still rose approximately 7 per cent to VND188 billion ($8.17 million). This was the result of cost reduction, utilising common resources between departments, limiting outsourcing, while increasing cross-selling and designing overall solution packages to help customers overcome difficulties and recover from the pandemic.