Quang Ngai Sugar (QNS), after many years of setting low business targets, has decided that it needs to get the post-tax profit of VND913 billion this year, or five times higher than the 2019’s target. However, the figure is still lower by 24 percent than the real profit it got in 2019.

Many enterprises' targets for 2020 are higher than the business targets of the last year, but lower than the real business results.

Meanwhile, other enterprises seem to be even more pessimistic about the epidemic. Their business targets for 2020 are lower than that of 2019 and the years before that.

The managers of the enterprises seem to be cautious and always set low business targets.

PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertilizer (DCM) in 2019 made a net profit of VND427 billion, which was far higher than the targeted profit of VND241 billion. However, it only sets the modest profit target of VND52 billion for 2020.

Most businesses are not setting high business targets this year because of uncertainties and the unpredictable Covid-2019 epidemic.

Becamex (BCM) has set the profit target of VND1.759 trillion for this year. The target is 3 percent higher than the real profit it made in 2019, but this is a step back if compared with the VND1.781 trillion it targeted for 2019.

The board of directors of PV Gas South (PGS) has approved the 2020 business plan which sets the pre-tax profit target at VND65 billion, a decrease of 30 percent.

Meanwhile, Song Da Industry Trade JSC (STP) only strives for the modest pre-tax profit of VND6 billion only, a decrease of 29 percent.

The third group of enterprises is the one which project continuous losses for many years. The Vietnam-Italy Steel JSC (VIS) is one of them. It predicted a post-tax loss of VND65 billion in 2020 for the third consecutive year.

Hung Vuong JSC (HVG) surprised investors when unexpectedly planning profit for 2020 after taking a big loss of VND1.1 trillion in 2019.

The seafood company set targeted revenue of VND12.524 trillion for 2020, or three times higher than the level achieved in 2019, and the post-tax profit of VND790 billion, the highest business target so far.

Commercial banks and some real estate firms are the most optimistic businesses.

Tu Liem Urban Development still plans the pre-tax profit of VND450 billion in 2020, or 53 percent higher than 2019, despite current difficulties.

Businesses are cautious when setting business targets for this year. This is attributed to concern about economic growth slowdown, interest rate increase, trade war and protectionism, plus the input price increases in the world market.

Kim Chi

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