State-owned enterprises’ profits decline

Fifty three state-owned enterprises saw post-tax profits go down 11 percent year-on-year to VND52.2 trillion ($2.3 billion) last year, a Finance Ministry report says.

Oil and gas giant Petrovietnam saw post-tax profits down 17 percent to VND23.18 trillion. Last year, it had to make provisions for an ailing investment at the Nghi Son Refinery in central Thanh Hoa Province.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) saw post-tax profits down by half to VND4.1 trillion as revenue from stake sales fell.

Some major state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that incurred losses last year included: the Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem) at VND1.17 trillion; the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) at VND610 billion; and the Vietnam National Coffee Corporation (Vinacafe) at VND280 billion.

Among the SOEs that recorded profit growth last year were: the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), which saw profits go up 22 percent to over VND4.5 trillion; and another telecom firm MobiFone, whose profits grew 5 percent growth to VND4.9 trillion.

Coal group Vinacomin posted a profit growth of 34 percent to VND3.1 trillion as sales surged.

Companies under the Ministry of Transport saw combined post-tax profit growth of 29 percent, while those under the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment posted declines of 18 percent and 12 percent respectively.