Viettel climbs to top of the pile

The two leading telecom groups have just unveiled their 2013 business targets.

VNPT envisaged posting VND131.600 trillion ($6.2 billion) revenue and VND9.255 trillion ($440 million) profit targets, surging 10.7 and 7.04 per cent, respectively against 2012.

The group was set to pay taxes of VND7.316 trillion ($348 million), up 0.08 per cent against 2012, according to its general director Vu Tuan Hung.

Meanwhile, military-run Viettel expected to rake in revenue of VND160-VND170 trillion ($7.6-$8.1 billion) and profits of VND34 trillion ($1.6 billion) this year.

Looking back on the past year, Hung said VNPT’s profit in 2012 slid compared to some previous years because it had to put bigger sums into buying equipment and materials for replacement or back-up purposes and to make provisions for bad debts and unsold stock.

VNPT executives also acknowledged 2012’s modest profit was also because the revenue from Vinasat-2 satellite with investment exceeding $300 million was below expectations. Besides, the profit generated by 3G network investments was also below expectations.

In 2013, VNPT contemplated maintaining growth rates at reasonable level to ensure stable development in the following years and ramp up efforts to save costs and bolster business efficiency, according to its chairman Pham Long Tran.

For Viettel, outbound investments brought noticeable dividends.

According to Viettel’s deputy general director Nguyen Manh Hung, in 2012 Viettel earned $600 million in revenue from outbound investments and pre-tax profits of $76 million. Its subscribers in outbound markets surpassed 10 million.

To date, the group has set footholds in many countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Haiti, Peru, Mozambique, Tanzania and Cameroon.

In 2012, Viettel posted more than VND140 trillion ($6.6 billion) in revenue against over VND130 trillion ($6.2 billion) gained by VNPT. This was the first time Viettel outran VNPT in revenue target.