PNJ’s board has approved a plan to reduce the time customers must wait to receive payment when the company buys back its products, replacing a policy that allowed payments to be spread over as long as 120 days.

Details of the new schedule have yet to be announced. PNJ said the shorter payment periods would vary by product line and would be determined in line with the company’s financial position.

On social media, the company said it was working to finalize the new arrangement, with fashion jewelry and gold bars among the product categories expected to be covered.

Under the previous policy, customers selling products back to PNJ received payment in five installments over 120 days: 10% at the time of the transaction, 20% after 30 days, 25% after 60 days, another 25% after 90 days and the remaining 20% after 120 days.

Customers could alternatively exchange all or part of the buyback value for PNJ products of equal or higher value. For loose diamonds, however, customers could either exchange them for other loose diamonds or receive cash according to the payment schedule, rather than converting them into jewelry or gold bars.

Some customers are now waiting for PNJ to announce exactly how much those payment periods will be shortened.

Bui Thanh Y, a customer in Ho Chi Minh City, said she could understand longer payment periods for diamonds because they are luxury products, but believed gold should be paid for in a single transaction because of its high liquidity.

Another customer, Truong Thanh Dat, said he had held off selling his diamond back to PNJ because he did not want to receive the money in installments. He has contacted customer service and plans to sell once the company announces the new payment schedule for individual product categories.

Family mobilizes capital for PNJ

The change comes as PNJ arranges additional working capital with support from the family of Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung.

Tran Phuong Ngoc Thao, PNJ’s vice chairwoman and Dung’s daughter, sold 7 million PNJ shares in a negotiated transaction on Sept. 11.

Following the sale, Thao retained more than 11 million shares, equivalent to 2.15% of PNJ’s charter capital. Based on the Sept. 11 closing price of VND37,300 per share, the shares sold were worth about VND261 billion, or roughly $10 million.

Thao and her sister, Tran Phuong Ngoc Ha, had previously registered to sell a combined 25 million PNJ shares to generate funds that would enable their mother to lend money to the company.

At the market price when the sales were registered, the shares were worth about VND975 billion, or around $37.5 million.

PNJ approved the borrowing plan on Sept. 4 to supplement working capital and fund its production and business operations.

The loan facility from Dung is capped at no more than 5% of PNJ’s total assets reported in its latest financial statements. Based on its asset base at the end of June 2026, that would amount to about VND1.08 trillion, or roughly $41.5 million.

The unsecured loan can run for up to 12 months and may be disbursed in multiple tranches.

PNJ is arranging the additional liquidity as it handles a significant volume of products being sold back by customers and revises its exchange and buyback policies.

The company faced increased customer requests to sell back diamonds and jewelry following reports surrounding a diamond-smuggling case in Thanh Hoa Province and the prosecution of several individuals linked to PNJ Laboratory Company Limited, or PNJ-LAB.

PNJ subsequently introduced the 120-day payment schedule or allowed customers to exchange eligible products for other merchandise.

According to notes to its financial statements, from July 1 to Sept. 3, PNJ bought back products covered by its provisioning calculations with a total value of nearly VND5 trillion, or about $192 million.

Related losses were estimated at more than VND1.45 trillion, or roughly $56 million, equivalent to around 29% of the value of products bought back during the period.

Large provisions hit profits

PNJ’s reviewed first-half financial statements show the financial impact of the pressures facing the company.

Consolidated net profit for the first six months of 2026 fell to VND728.5 billion, or about $28 million, from more than VND1.18 trillion a year earlier, largely because of provisions and estimated costs associated with its product buyback policy.

PNJ recorded total provisions of approximately VND3.68 trillion, or about $142 million. Of this, VND2.27 trillion, or roughly $87 million, was related to its product exchange and buyback policy, while another VND1.42 trillion, or about $55 million, was set aside for inventory impairment.

For products sold in 2019 or earlier, PNJ used a base value of more than VND10.14 trillion, or around $390 million, in its calculations. It assumed that 7% of customers would return to sell those products, resulting in an estimated loss of about VND183 billion, or $7 million.

These figures form the basis for estimating potential obligations and losses and do not mean PNJ will necessarily have to pay out the entire amounts.

Shares remain far below their peak

PNJ shares ended the morning session on Sept. 16 down VND300 at VND36,900, with nearly 1.38 million shares traded. Foreign investors sold 488,000 shares while purchasing 87,300.

From a low of around VND30,000 in July, PNJ at one point rebounded to about VND43,000 in late August, a gain of roughly 43%, before falling back to VND36,900.

The stock remained about 56% below its early-2026 peak of approximately VND85,000, indicating that the rebound has yet to develop into a sustained upward trend.

There has nevertheless been buying by company executives and foreign institutional investors.

CEO Phan Quoc Cong purchased 1 million PNJ shares between July 31 and Aug. 14, raising his ownership to 0.2% of the company. Cao Ngoc Duy, the younger brother of Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, bought another 300,000 shares.

Funds managed by Sprucegrove Investment Management acquired approximately 1.62 million shares on Aug. 14, lifting their combined stake to 5.04%. On Aug. 19, investors associated with T. Rowe Price Associates bought more than 4.85 million shares, raising their combined holding from 5.07% to 6.02%.

Dragon Capital and VinaCapital, by contrast, had previously reduced their holdings, with VinaCapital falling below the 5% ownership threshold.

Revenue surges, but profit quality remains under pressure

PNJ generated consolidated net revenue of more than VND25.7 trillion, or approximately $989 million, in the first half of 2026, an increase of around 49%.

Yet reviewed net profit fell about 35% year on year to VND728.5 billion.

The sharp rise in revenue alongside a substantial decline in profit has put greater attention on margins and the quality of PNJ’s growth this year.

Much of the revenue increase came from 24-karat gold, which carries lower margins than retail jewelry. The future revenue mix and the recovery of PNJ’s core retail jewelry business will therefore be important factors to watch in the coming quarters.

PNJ’s challenge now extends beyond securing additional working capital. The company must manage its large provisions and buyback obligations, implement a shorter payment schedule, rebuild customer confidence and improve the quality of its earnings.

Attention will next turn to an extraordinary general meeting scheduled for Oct. 21, 2026, in Ho Chi Minh City.

PNJ is expected to present shareholders with revised business targets for 2026 and its direction for the next phase of operations. The meeting could also provide greater clarity on how the company intends to address the issues that have emerged, its capital requirements and its future business strategy.

Manh Ha