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Lotteria Vietnam has said that it will continue its business expansion in Vietnam amid Korean media reports of its closedown over a net loss of nearly US$9 million.

The company, which is operated by Lotte GRS under South Korea’s Lotte Group, dismissed a media report that it would cease operations in Vietnam, a spokesperson told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday.

There is an inaccurate understanding of the Korean media report, the Lotteria Vietnam spokesperson added.

Lotteria Vietnam is proceeding with its normal business while an expansion is underway.

The firm is expected to invest in a new plant at Long Hau Industrial Park in Long An Province, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, and open ten Lotteria stores in 2021.

“We are working with our parent company in South Korea to clarify its new strategy,” the spokesperson told Tuoi Tre.

The spokesperson further explained that Lotteria Vietnam is still operating its franchise business and has reached almost 100 franchised restaurants.

Entering the Vietnamese market in 1998, Lotteria Vietnam is running over 260 outlets and is among the top fast-food chains in the Southeast Asian country.

The Korea Times reported on Sunday that Lotteria Vietnam is not closing down.

“It is true that Lotte GRS is leaving the Indonesian market but we are continuing with our franchise and food retail businesses in Vietnam,” the newspaper quoted a Lotte GRS official as saying.

The paper seemed to correct its report on Friday that had cited “a Lotte GRS official” as saying “Lotteria Vietnam and others have met the requirements for closure starting this year.”

Friday’s article said that Lotte GRS was in the process of closing down “Lotte Group’s food material supplier in Vietnam, which was established in early 2020 to expand Lotte GRS’ business in neighboring Southeast Asian countries.”

“Lotteria franchises in Vietnam have all stopped operations and its headquarters in Seoul is reviewing the possibility of closing down the business within this year,” The Korea Times reported.

The report went on to elaborate that Lotteria Vietnam did not make any profit for Lotte GRS in 2020.

“Lotteria Vietnam’s book value stood at 26.8 billion won [$24 million] as of early last year, but declined to 15.6 billion won [$14 million] after recognizing 11.2 billion [$10 million] won in valuation losses,” the article said.

“Its net loss surpassed 10 billion won [$8.9 million] in one year.”

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Read what is in the news today:

COVID-19 Updates

— Vietnam recorded one imported case of COVID-19 from Japan on Monday morning, bringing the national tally to 2,785 infections, with 2,475 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

— As many as 79,182 people had been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Vietnam as of Sunday.

— The Ministry of Health ordered the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, an epidemiological research institute, to set up a COVID-19 testing lab in Ha Tien City in Kien Giang Province, which borders Cambodia. Illegal immigration from Cambodia remains rampant in the southern Vietnamese locality while the COVID-19 situation in the neighboring country stays complicated.

Society

— Road users in Ho Chi Minh City complained about tens of motorcyclists blocking a section of Truong Chinh Street in District 12 to organize an illegal race on Sunday afternoon.

— Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the chairs of the People’s Committees of 13 provinces where the North-South Expressway will pass through to ensure the supply of building materials for the construction of the mammoth project.

— Police in Ho Chi Minh City discovered over 100 people testing positive for drugs at a nightclub on Le Van Khuong Street in District 12 at around 1:00 am on Sunday.

Business

— Vietnam’s ratio of debt-to-GDP was over 140 percent and the country is among those with the highest rates against international standards, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong reported to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday morning.

Lifestyle

— The eighth Vietnam Book Day kicked off at Ho Chi Minh City’s Book Street on Nguyen Van Binh Street in District 1 on Sunday, featuring various activities, both online and offline.

World news

— “Two men died after a Tesla (TSLA.O) vehicle, which was believed to be operating without anyone in the driver’s seat, crashed into a tree on Saturday night north of Houston, authorities said,” Reuters reported.

— Germany, represented by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, held a national memorial service in a Berlin concert hall on Sunday for its nearly 80,000 victims of the coronavirus pandemic, putting aside deep divisions over COVID-19 restrictions to share the pain of grieving families, according to AFP .

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Novaland Investment Group’s head office in Nguyen Du Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. — Photo vinhomecitys.com

Some analysts from securities firms expected that the market’s bullish trend will continue this week, while others were more cautious and see a downward trend dominating the market.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell 8.54 points, or 0.68 per cent, in Friday’s trade to 1,238.71 points. The index hit a record high of 1,255.87 points on Wednesday.

For the week, the index still rose slightly by 0.57 per cent, while foreign investors net sold a value of over VND2.4 trillion.

Analyst from Saigon – Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) said that the third straight weekly gain of the market and a new record in liquidity showed investors’ big interest during this period. However, based on Elliott Wave Theory, the index was likely at the end of wave 5 last week and is about to turn to corrective waves with a closest target being around 1,135 points.

Therefore, a downward trend might influence the market this week, SHS added.

The index struggled and strongly fluctuated around 1,250 points, but failed to break through the level in the last session. The market breadth, besides some blue-chip stocks in real estate sectors and steel stocks, was negative last week.

Tran Xuan Bach, a senior stock analyst from Bao Viet Securities Company, also expected that the market might continue to be weighed by selling pressure this week.

“The VN-Index still receives support from the zone of 1,225 – 1,232 points in some early sessions this week,” Bach wrote in a daily report to customers.

“The market is likely to be influenced by some large-cap stocks, as well as a strong division of stock groups during this period.”

Meanwhile, analysts from Viet Dragon Securities Corporation (VDSC) were more optimistic about the market as large cash inflows into the market in the last session limited the losses.

Sharing the positive view, MB Securities JSC (MBS) said that the last session’s steep fall has boosted cash flows into the market for bottom fishing, creating a notable recovery.

On the technical front, the upward trend, which has extended over the last two months, will continue with the support territory in the short-term being 1,220 points, MBS added.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) also declined 1.02 per cent on Friday to 293.11 points. For the week, the index fell 0.23 per cent.

Real estate stocks posted outstanding performance last week as it went against the market’s trend in most sessions. Followed by material stocks.

Of which, Vingroup JSC (VIC), Novaland Investment Group Corporation (NVL) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG) contributed the most to help the market cap losses. These stocks climbed 16.29 per cent, 4.73 per cent and 4.46 per cent, respectively.

On the contrary, top three stocks influencing the market’s trend were Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR), JSC Bank For Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (VNM).

In general, Viet Nam’s stock market was not so positive last week despite the benchmark increasing slightly as selling pressure spread to all sectors and foreign investors net sold a value in the trillions of dong. — VNS

Leading reporters to his closed snail farming area in Cua Tung Town in Quang Tri recently, Phan Van Dung pointed to the pond divided into cells amid a sand field. He said this was just one of his five sweet snail (Babylonia areolata) farms.

He pointed out a cell lined with black canvas, where snails were about to be harvested in several days.

“The price has reached a record high of VND360,000 per kilogram, twice as high as last year. I believe I can earn big money this year,” he said.

In 2005, he built a small hotel with 20 rooms which became the major source of income of his family. Now he earns money from both the hotel and snail farming, but the farming brings much higher revenue.

At first, he hatched shrimp, but he failed many times over five years. In 2016, he decided to breed snails, which he believed would bring high profit and low risks, after half a year of learning farming techniques in the south.

The main feed for snail is fresh shrimp and fish. As his farm is next to the sea, he also buys pompano to feed snails because it is cheap.

He harvested the first crop after 7-8 months and earned a lot from it. The snail price fluctuates between VND170,000 and 400,000 per kilogram.

Dung now runs five snail farms with total surface area of 18 hectares with output of 200 tons per annum. He never takes a loss with snail farming.

The snails sales to Chinese merchants and domestic sales bring total turnover of VND34 billion and profit of VND17 billion.

After showing reporters the ponds containing hundreds of tons of snails, Dung walked to an area with square water tanks and an oxygen conductor system.

The entire area, about one hectare, is used to produce snail breeders, and is divided into different compartments for parent snails to lay spawn and for a spawn hatchery. There is also a compartment to raise snails until they are standard size (40,000-50,000 snails per kilogram) and brought to ponds.

When he began farming snails, he had to buy breeders from other localities at high prices, so the profit was not high. In 2019, he decided to set up a breeder production area to establish a closed snail production line.

Tam Anh – Anh Duc

In early 2020, Pham Thanh Bien, who works in Bac Thang Long Industrial Zone (IZ) in Hanoi, sought to buy land in Hai Boi commune of Dong Anh district. The landlord had set the price of VND25 million per square meter, which Bien rejected. At that moment, apartments at Kien Hung project in Ha Dong district were priced at VND16 million per square meter.

In January 2021, when he returned to meet the landlord, the land plot was still available, but the price had surged to VND50 million per square meter. The price of Kien Hung apartments moved up to VND19 million.

Bien then made a decision to buy an apartment as he thought the prices would rise further.

The land price hike in Hanoi broke out after the news about the Red River subdivision planning. A real estate broker in Dong Anh district said there were transactions in which the prices of the same land plots increased by VND5 million per square meter within days.

According to the Vietnam Association of Realtors, the land price has increased by 10 percent in the last month on average. In some areas, the prices have doubled or tripled in the last 1-2 months.

The land fever is not only seen in Hanoi, but in many other cities and provinces as well because of information about infrastructure project development.

The land prices increase when the stock market is hot. Real estate stocks are the most hunted, acting as the ‘pillar’ of VN Index.

Together with industrial zone stocks which have been on the rise over the last two years, real estate stocks are also rising quietly. Some of them have reached the historic peak area.

PDR shares of Phat Dat Real Estate Development JSC, for example, reached a new peak of VND68,000 per share on April 13. The price of the shares has been increasing for the last nine months and is now at the highest level since it began listing.

DIG of the DIC Corporation and the shares belonging to Becamex family, including TDC and IJC, have also been increasing for a long time.

IJC, which has seen big benefits from the real estate wave, was traded at over VND27,000 per share on April 13.

Major realtors are all quietly accumulating land in their long-term development plans for the next decade. The six real estate firms with large land banks reportedly own 27,673 hectares of land for project development, an increase of 15 percent over 2019.

Analysts say that the price increases of real estate shares have close relations with the land bank realtors have. The companies with large land banks have long-term advantages amid the land scarcity. The business results of the firms in 2020 were highly satisfactory because of bright prospects in the long term.

‘Kings of land’

BHS Group President Nguyen Tho Tuyen believes that the land price will keep rising. When the supply drops, foreign investors will flock to the market with deals worth up to billions of dollars in Hanoi and HCM City. Meanwhile, the number of F0 investors is believed to be much higher than the 30 percent announced by some analysis firms.

According to JLL, the firms with large clean-land banks will have better advantages. The projects with good legal status will be pricier than others.

Vinhomes’ land bank (HOSE, VHM) reached 16,200 hectares as of the end of 2020. The land bank of the enterprise is believed to be the largest in the market. Of the 16,200 hectares, 60 percent is ready for concentrated development in Hanoi and HCM City.

The other firms which have large land funds include Novaland, Hung Thinh Land, LDG Investment, Nam Long and Phat Dat.

Becamex IJC (HOSE, IJC), with 215 hectares in Binh Duong alone, and C.E.O (HNX, CEO), with hundreds of hectares of clean land, especially in Phu Quoc and Van Don, and DIC Corp (HOSE, DIG) with large land area in the south are also very rich in land.

Of real estate stocks, CEO of C.E.O Group is one of a few shares which still have not seen a price hike, which is attributed to Covid-19. However, with the large clean-land bank of hundreds of hectares in hot areas such as Ha Nam, Phu Quoc and Van Don, price increases are expected.

Major realtors are all quietly accumulating land in their long-term development plans for the next decade. The six real estate firms with large land banks reportedly own 27,673 hectares of land for project development, an increase of 15 percent over 2019.

Vinaconex is planning an additional 5,000 hectares of land for 2021-2025. Khang Dien has increased capital for its two subsidiaries in a plan to expand the land bank in district 2 in HCM City. Meanwhile, Novaland continues to seek land in provinces, and Vinhomes is considering developing new projects in a number of cities and provinces.

BVSC and VNDirect Securities both predict that the real estate M&A market will be bustling in 2021.

Do Thanh

Thùy Vân Beach in Vũng Tàu City. The number of visitors to Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province in the first quarter doubled from a year earlier to 1.8 million. VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khương

HCM CITY — Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu managed to achieve positive economic growth in the first quarter of 2021 driven by a surge in industrial production, port services and domestic travel.

Speaking at a meeting held on Friday to review the socio-economic development for the quarter, deputy secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Nguyễn Thị Yến, said key economic sectors achieved growth during the quarter.

The province achieved the dual goal of containing COVID-19 while ensuring economic growth, she said.

So its revenues rose by 6.7 per cent to more than VNĐ22 trillion (US$953.46 million), she said.

Industrial production value excluding oil and gas rose by 7.3 per cent year-on-year.

The value of port services jumped by 9.6 per cent.

The province speeded up work on some crucial transport projects to facilitate connectivity to the Cái Mép-Thị Vải port complex in Phú Mỹ Town.

The tourism sector saw a robust recovery, with the number of visitors in the first quarter doubling from a year ago to 1.8 million.

In the second quarter, the province plans to focus on improving its business climate and competitiveness to attract foreign investment. —VNS