The Yeah1 Group (YEG), once struggling under former chairman Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong, has reported a near eleven-fold increase in after-tax profits for Q3 2024, reaching nearly 34.3 billion VND. For the first nine months of the year, profits surged to approximately 55.8 billion VND - 4.5 times higher than the same period in 2023.

This turnaround comes under new leadership, with Chairwoman Le Phuong Thao and CEO Ngo Thi Van Hanh at the helm, steering the company back from its 2019–2020 losses of 566 billion VND and a near delisting scare. Once a top player in Vietnam’s media industry, Yeah1 had fallen from its peak after YouTube terminated its partnership, compounded by the impacts of COVID-19.

Founded by Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong, Yeah1 was initially a media unicorn, with stock prices reaching a record high of 350,000 VND per share after its 2018 IPO. However, rapid expansion ambitions and market setbacks led to a financial downfall, with Yeah1 exiting its Hollywood venture and enduring heavy losses in its media commerce segment.

In March 2019, Yeah1 sold back 100% of ScaleLab shares to original owners Brenner Pass Investment Corp. for 12 million USD after acquiring them just two months earlier. Losses continued in 2020 as the company’s efforts to expand its media ecosystem into consumer markets faced the economic challenges of COVID-19.

A new era under different leadership

After the YouTube setback, founder Nhuong Tong saw his assets plummet by up to 90%, dropping from 2.67 trillion VND to less than 480 billion VND. In 2019, Tong led the list of stock market losses as YEG shares fell from a high of 350,000 VND to just 37,000 VND. Yeah1 pivoted to multi-channel commerce with the Giga1 platform, partnering with Tan Hiep Phat, though the partnership ended swiftly. Tong exited the Board of Directors by mid-2022.

Under new leadership, Yeah1 shifted its strategy from rapid expansion to a more calculated approach. The current Board includes five members: Le Phuong Thao, Ngo Thi Van Hanh, Nguyen Hoang Giang (Chairman of DNSE Securities), Kim Min Soo, and Dinh Hoai Nam from SBS Securities.

Chairwoman Thao, who joined Yeah1 in early 2022, quickly became the company’s largest shareholder, holding nearly 5.8% of shares by mid-2022.

In 2023 and 2024, Yeah1’s bet on the programs “Chị đẹp đạp gió” and “Anh trai vượt ngàn chông gai” paid off as part of a new content strategy. Advertising and media consulting revenues soared, with “Chị đẹp” achieving 788 million views and over 20 million interactions on social media in 2023. The upcoming “Anh trai vượt ngàn chông gai” concert is scheduled for Hanoi at the end of the year.

As Yeah1 shifted its focus, the Vietnamese gameshow market has revived, with Yeah1 acquiring the rights to China’s "Call Me by Fire" (renamed “Anh trai vượt ngàn chông gai”) and competing against Vie Channel’s similar show, “Anh trai Say Hi.” This momentum has attracted major sponsorships from finance, beauty, and food sectors, including Techcombank.

Overall, Yeah1 reported significant growth in revenue and profit in Q3 2024, with a 30% increase in total assets compared to the same period last year.

However, total liabilities more than doubled in the past nine months, rising from approximately 409 billion VND at the end of 2023 to over 927 billion VND by late September. Short-term debt spiked from 171 billion VND to nearly 500 billion VND.

Manh Ha