Hoa Phat to Focus Resources on Dung Quat 2 Iron & Steel Complex
Hoa Phat Group, a leading steel and real estate conglomerate in Vietnam, recently held its annual general meeting of shareholders on March 30th, 2023. The meeting was attended by 840 people, representing over 1,200 shareholders, holding nearly 3.9 billion shares, accounting for 66.9% of voting shares. Hoa Phat posted $6.1 billion in revenue in 2022, reducing 5% compared to 2021, and a consolidated after-tax profit of $358 million, only equal to 24% of 2021. However, the company is still proud of its business results in 2022, given the difficulties experienced in Vietnam's steel industry and the world in general.
Last year, Hoa Phat focused on research and development of high-quality product lines while diversifying consumption for both local and foreign markets, with export revenue reaching more than $153 million, accounting for 22% of the group's total revenue.
At the annual general meeting, many shareholders raised questions related to this year's business targets, Dung Quat 2 project, developments in the steel market trend in the near future, investment orientation in the real estate sector, household appliances, full operating time of blast furnaces, dividend payment plan, and more. Chairman Mr. Tran Dinh Long stated that Hoa Phat Group will not pay dividends this year, given the need to focus all resources on the Hoa Phat Dung Quat 2 Iron and Steel Production Complex project, with expectations to complete it in the first quarter of 2025, increasing the crude steel capacity to more than 14 million metric tons per year. According to the group's leaders, when Dung Quat 2 is completed, Hoa Phat's revenue scale will increase by $4.3 billion trillion per year.
Despite the difficulties in the steel industry in 2022, Hoa Phat Group still achieved relatively good business results, thanks to the efforts of more than 30,000 employees and administration of the executive board. In 2023, the group will continue to switch to high-quality steel production, in-depth investment to produce fabricated steel, steel for screw production, post-tensioning, and strengthen investments and export of high-quality steel products. It will also regulate production according to the market situation, in line with domestic and export market signals, and focus resources on the Hoa Phat Dung Quat 2 Iron and Steel Production Complex project.