The Mobile World JSC (MWG) has closed 22 retail stores within the Big C Vietnam supermarket chain, as required by Big C.

Mr. Dang Thanh Phong from MWG confirmed with VET that the stores are closing one year after opening.

“This is being done under a normal business agreement,” he said. “Our stores in Big C are in the mobile phone business. We planned to change to the electronics business but Big C did not agree.”

Turnover at these stores has been lower than at MWG’s 1,000 other retail stores so the closure will have no effect on its total turnover.

According to Big C, the “in-shop” model was established by its former owner, Casino Group, to reduce initial investment costs.

The first thegioididong.com store under the model opened at Big C Dong Nai in March 2015.

MWG is now piloting its new retail chain model, called Bach Hoa Xanh, providing food, fruit and vegetables, and life’s essentials. The chain is expected to be a competitor of Big C in the future.

Thailand’s Central Group acquired 49 per cent shares of Nguyen Kim, a major electronics retailer, in early 2015 and is now MWG’s main competitor in the field.

According to its business report, in the first eight months of this year MWG’s revenue was VND27 trillion ($1.2 billion), or 79 per cent of the annual target and 78 per cent higher year-on-year.

After-tax profit was VND1.1 trillion ($43.8 million), or 81 per cent of the target and an increase of 74 per cent year-on-year.

Revenue from its online business was VND1.8 trillion ($78.9 million), reaching 57 per cent of the annual target and 102 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

As at the end of the first eight months it had opened 384 new retail stores nationwide, including 316 new thegioididong.com stores and 68 new dienmayxanh.com stores. The company now has a total of 1,017 retail stores, including 880 thegioididong.com and 137 dienmayxanh.com stores.

The Bach Hoa Xanh chain earns VND1 billion ($43,000) a month and is constantly growing. There are now 18 such stores in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Mekong Enterprise Fund II (MEF) has announced that it is yet to sell its 2.7 million shares in MWG, after expressing an intention to do so in August, as the share’s price is lower than expected.

MEF currently holds 13.45 million MWG shares, or 9.24 per cent. After the sale its holding will fall to 7.39 per cent.

VN Economic Times