The KIDO Group Corporation (KDC) has announced it will issue VND1 trillion ($45 million) worth of bonds before the year is out.

In order to secure additional capital for production and business activities, its Board of Directors agreed to issue a maximum of 1,000 non-convertible bonds to 100 local and foreign investors, with a par value of VND1 billion ($45,000) per bond.

The bonds will be issued one or many times. Interest rates have not yet been announced but will be paid every six months.  

In the first six months of this year KDC’s net revenue reached VND1.4 trillion ($63 million), excluding revenue from its confectionery business and retail services, up 30 per cent year-on-year. Operating profit was nearly VND1.2 trillion ($54 million), equal to 79.5 per cent of the annual profit plan.

On November 8 it opened a frozen food facility producing yogurt and ice cream at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province (VSIP Bac Ninh). With initial capital of VND400 billion ($18 million), the 25,000 sq m facility is currently the largest of its kind in Vietnam’s north.

CEO Tran Le Nguyen said the new plant would contribute substantially to the company’s frozen food business, which includes dairy products and dumplings.

Last year KDC led the country’s ice cream sector with a market share of 36.9 per cent, according to market researchers Euromonitor International. The frozen food business has so far contributed VND1.5 trillion ($67.5 million) to KDC’s revenue.

It currently has 60,000 outlets in its frozen food distribution system. Revenue from ice cream and yogurt this year is expected to leap 35 per cent against last year while its total earnings are predicted at VND7 trillion ($315 million). 

KIDO was recently granted a license by State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) to bid for 65 per cent of cooking oil giant the Tuong An Vegetable Oil Company (TAC), or 12,337,130 shares.

The bidding period lasted for 45 days, from October 3 to November 15. With a bidding price of VND78,000 ($3.47) per share, KDC would have to part with around VND960 billion ($42.7 million) to complete the deal. No up-to-date information on the deal is available at this stage.

TAC is the second-largest cooking oil company in Vietnam, with a 22 per cent market share. It reported total 2015 revenue of VND3.6 trillion ($161.3 million). KIDO Corporation previously went under the name Kinh Do Corporation and specialized in confectionery. KIDO finished transferring the remainder of its confectionary business to Mondelēz International from the US last year.

After selling 80 per cent of its subsidiary, the Kinh Do Binh Duong JSC (BKD), to Mondelēz International in the second quarter of last year, it is expected to reap VND2 trillion ($89.7 million) from the sale of the remaining 20 per cent.

VN Economic Times