State-owned corporations and groups may lose $13 billion due to COVID-19

The 19 state-owned groups under the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises may see losses in the billions of dollars due to COVID-19

In the first three months, these 19 firms under the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises reported a total loss of VND3.7 trillion ($160.87 million). The company suffering the largest damage is Vietnam Airlines with a plunge in accumulated revenue reaching VND6.7 trillion ($291.3 million) on-year and loss of VND2.3 trillion ($100 million). If the pandemic lasts until the fourth quarter of this year, its revenue is estimated to decline by VND72.4 trillion ($3.15 billion) compared to its initial target, with VND20 trillion ($869.57 million) in losses.

At present, Vietnam Airlines suspended all international flights and keeps domestic flights at a minimum. It has increased the exploitation of both international and domestic cargo flights in order to offset the lost revenue.

The VND3.5 trillion ($152.2 million) fund allocated for wages has been exhausted and the company had to look for short-term loans to meet payments.

Another case in the aviation sector is Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV). In the first quarter, the corporation reported negative VND800 billion ($34.78 million) of revenue and negative VND580 billion ($25.22 million) in profit. ACV forecast VND11.3 trillion ($491.3 million) in revenue and VND1.47 trillion ($63.9 million) in profit for the whole year, down VND10.2 trillion ($443.48 million) and VND9.3 trillion ($404.35 million) on-year.

In the transport sector, VietnamExpressway Development and Investment Corporation (VEC) expressed concerns about losing VND15 billion ($652,200) in revenue in the first three months due to the plunge in transport demand in the context of the pandemic. This damage may increase to VND140 billion ($6 million) if the epidemic lasts until the fourth quarter.

VND100 billion ($4.35 million) was the damage of Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) in the first three months. The figure is estimated to rise VND643 billion ($27.96 million) to VND935 billion ($40.65 million) by the end of this year.

Regarding the oil and gas sector, in the first quarter of this year, PetroVietnam saw a decline of VND13.2 trillion ($573.9 million) in revenue and VND4.58 trillion ($199.13 million) in after-tax profit against last year.

If the selling price of crude oil decreases to $55 or $30 per barrel, the total revenue of the group will drop by between VND23 trillion ($1 billion) and VND141 trillion ($6.13 billion).

Meanwhile, Petrolimex is concerned about a potential revenue loss of about VND12.5 trillion ($543.48 million) this year.

Despite the soaring demand for online working and learning due to the pandemic, telecommunications groups – the providers of these services – have not manged to escape the damage of the pandemic. Notably, VNPT forecast that its revenue may decrease by VND6.1 trillion ($265.2 million) while profit could drop by VND1.52 trillion ($66.1 million) against its initial expectations for the whole year.