VietNamnet Bridge - Doan Nguyen Duc, one of Vietnam’s most influential businessmen, had tough days with his business in 2015 and the first days of 2016.

 

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group now develops cow farming projects

‘Billionaire Census 2014’, a report of Wealth-X and UBS showed that Vietnam had two dollar billionaires with total assets of $3 billion. The names of the two billionaires were not mentioned in the report.

However, the two billionaires are familiar in Vietnamese business circles. They were believed to be Pham Nhat Vuong and Doan Nguyen Duc. 

HAG saw the price drop dramatically by 56 percent from its highest peak of VND56,000 per share just within one year. The current price is just equal to 45 percent of the book value.

The report could show the position of Duc in Vietnam.

However, while 2015 was a lucky year for Vuong, it was not for Duc. Vuong has for the sixth consecutive year topped the list of Vietnamese stock millionaires. Meanwhile, Duc has fallen out of the top three stock millionaires and seen Hoang Anh Gia Lai share prices drop dramatically.

After the two first trading sessions of 2016, Hoang Anh Gia Lai share (HAG) prices dropped to VND9,600 per share, which was lower than the face value of VND10,000 and the deepest low since the share was first listed on the bourse. 

HAG saw the price drop dramatically by 56 percent from its highest peak of VND56,000 per share just within one year. The current price is just equal to 45 percent of the book value.

It was a surprise that HAG prices kept decreasing despite better Hoang Anh Gia Lai business performance recently. After the business restructuring, the group’s revenue and profit both have been increasing steadily in the last four quarters. HAG’s P/E (price on earning) is 6 now.

As HAG price decreasing, Duc has lost VND4 trillion in his stock assets. As a result, Duc has been excluded out of the top 3 stock millionaires and fallen to the fourth position. 

He was the businessman who lost the most money in 2015 and the businessman who saw the worst business performance in the year.

Duc witnessed a failed business affair in 2015. In the second quarter of the year, Hoang Anh Gia Lai officially stopped a cooperation agreement with Singaporean Rowsley Limited on the development of a real estate project in Yangon, Myanmar.

Prior to that, Rowsley agreed to buy 50 percent of Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s stakes in a deal worth $275 million.

Explaining the failure, Hoang Anh Gia Lai said the tax rate on the profit gained from capital assignment was high, at 40 percent, in Myanmar.

Also in 2015, Hoang Anh Gia Lai was the victim of some false rumors about the conglomerate’s big debts worth trillions of dong. The rumor about its insolvency was the reason behind the plunge of HAG price.


H. Tu