Dragon Capital buys nearly 8 million more shares of Mobile World Group.

With business improving in the first quarter of 2024, foreign funds bought more shares of Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG - HoSE) to increase their ownership to 7.46% of the charter capital.

On May 3rd, Dragon Capital Group purchased an additional 7,998,000 MWG shares, increasing its ownership from 6.91% to 7.46% of Mobile World Group 's charter capital.

Specifically, Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited purchased 3,305,000 shares; Norges Bank purchased 1.7 million shares; Wareham Group Limited purchased 1,193,000 shares; DC Developing Markets Strategies Public Limited Company purchased 1 million shares; Saigon Investments Limited purchased 500,000 shares; Samsung Vietnam Securities Master Investment Trust (Equity) purchased 200,000 shares; and KB Vietnam Focus Balanced Fund purchased 100,000 MWG shares.

Conversely, from March 14th to March 22nd, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Tam, sister of Mr. Nguyen Duc Tai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, sold 200,000 MWG shares, reducing her ownership from 529,554 shares (0.036% of charter capital) to 329,554 shares (0.023% of charter capital).

From February 27th to March 26th, Robert Alan Willett, a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Mobile World Group, sold 1.1 million MWG shares, reducing his ownership from 0.548% to 0.473% of the charter capital.

Completed 37.6% of the profit target after Q1/2024

In terms of business performance, in the first quarter of 2024, Mobile World Group recorded revenue of VND 31,486.5 billion, an increase of 16.2% compared to the same period last year, and after-tax profit of VND 902.97 billion, a 41.4-fold increase compared to the same period last year. The gross profit margin improved from 19.2% to 21.3%.

Reportedly, during the normal period from Q1/2021 to Q3/2022, Mobile World's quarterly profit ranged from VND 906.8 billion to VND 1,562 billion per quarter.

During the period, Mobile World's gross profit increased by 28.7% year-on-year, equivalent to an increase of VND 1,498.1 billion, reaching VND 6,712.6 billion; financial revenue increased by 63%, equivalent to an increase of VND 226.2 billion, reaching VND 585.3 billion; financial expenses increased by 26.8%, equivalent to an increase of VND 79.4 billion, reaching VND 375.2 billion; selling and administrative expenses increased by 11.4%, equivalent to an increase of VND 580.4 billion, reaching VND 5,689.8 billion; and other activities showed insignificant fluctuations.

Thus, in the first quarter of 2024, although financial costs, selling expenses, and administrative expenses increased, the increase in gross profit, along with the increase in financial revenue, helped Mobile World Group's profits increase significantly.

Reportedly, in 2024, Mobile World Group plans to achieve revenue of 125,000 billion VND, a 6% increase compared to the same period, and projected after-tax profit of 2,400 billion VND, a 13.29-fold increase compared to 2023.

Thus, ending the first quarter of 2024 with a recorded profit of VND 902.97 billion, Mobile World Group has completed 37.6% of its annual plan.

Further job cuts of 4,853 employees are expected in the first quarter of 2024.

Notably, as of March 31, 2024, Mobile World Group recorded 60,561 employees, a decrease of 4,853 employees compared to the beginning of the year (which had 65,414 employees).

In fact, the peak number of employees at The Gioi Dien Dong was 80,231 on September 30, 2022, but by December 31, 2023, it had dropped to only 65,414, a decrease of 14,817 employees.

Thus, from September 30, 2022 to March 31, 2024, Mobile World Group reduced its workforce by 24.5%, equivalent to a decrease of 19,670 people.

The Bach Hoa Xanh chain is still operating at a loss despite selling its stake to a Chinese company.

Regarding chain operations, Bach Hoa Xanh Trading Joint Stock Company, the unit managing the Bach Hoa Xanh chain, continued to incur a further loss of VND 105.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, bringing the total accumulated loss to VND 8,756.9 billion.

It is noteworthy that earlier in April 2024, after Mobile World Group announced the completion of the sale of 5% of its capital in Bach Hoa Xanh Investment and Technology Joint Stock Company, the owner of the Bach Hoa Xanh chain (the initial plan was to sell 20% of the total issued shares), CDH Investments - an asset management company from China - also announced, through Green Bee 2 Private Limited, the completion of its investment to acquire a minority stake in Bach Hoa Xanh Investment and Technology Joint Stock Company.

Following the transaction, Mobile World will remain the controlling shareholder of Bach Hoa Xanh Investment and Technology Joint Stock Company, alongside the participation of CDH Investments and the company's management board.

According to our research, CDH Investments was co-founded in 2002 by Chairman Wu Shangzhi as one of China's earliest private equity firms, known for its trading activities in traditional sectors such as consumer goods and manufacturing in its early years.

CDH Investments currently manages assets worth over $27 billion and is a major investor in WH Group, the world's largest pork supplier, and Midea Group, a leading home appliance manufacturer.

Furthermore, according to historical data, CDH Investments had previously invested in Mobile World and divested nearly 10 years ago to realize profits.

Reportedly, according to the initial plan in 2022, Mobile World planned to offer up to 20% of its shares in the Bach Hoa Xanh supermarket chain.

Thus, the actual capital sale transaction at the Bach Hoa Xanh chain was lower than initially planned. The company explained that this was due to positive business results and cash flow developments in 2023, which meant there was no need to raise the maximum capital of up to 20% compared to the initial plan.

Returning to business operations by unit in Q1/2024, MWG (Cambodia) Co., Ltd continued to incur a loss of VND 0.3 billion in Q1/2024, bringing the total accumulated loss to VND 702.9 billion; An Khang Pharma Joint Stock Company (owner of the An Khang pharmacy chain) incurred a loss of VND 69.8 billion in Q1/2024, raising the total accumulated loss to VND 731.3 billion.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/dragon-capital-mua-them-gan-8-trieu-co-phieu-the-gioi-di-dong-d214704.html