Continuously winning bids at close prices, Mr. Nguyen Hai Lam's Phu Tai Central Group has revenue of hundreds of billions, but profits are only symbolic.

Chorus of winning bids "at close price" of Phu Tai Central Region

According to the investigation of the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper, in the past 3 years (2021 - 2023), the bidding activities of Phu Tai Mien Trung Group Joint Stock Company (Phu Tai Mien Trung) have been very favorable with the winning of 18 bid packages. In which, this company has contributed to many joint ventures to participate in a number of large construction bid packages worth hundreds of billions of VND. However, the savings rate recorded in these bid packages is very low.

Phu Tai Central always wins bids at close prices, with low savings rates.

Specifically in Ha Tinh, on September 19, 2023, Mr. Le Anh Son - Deputy Director of the Department of Transport of Ha Tinh province signed Decision 489/QD-SGTVT on selecting a contractor for Package No. 18.XL: Construction of the section from National Highway 8 to Ho Chi Minh Road, with the Ha Tinh Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board as the inviting party.

In which, the consortium of Thanh Huy Group Joint Stock Company - Nhu Nam - Phu Tai Central Limited Liability Company and Dau Gia VN Joint Stock Company was selected to implement the package. The estimated price of this package is 432.190 billion VND, the winning bid price of the consortium is over 427.86 billion VND. Savings of over 4.33 billion VND, equivalent to a savings rate of about 1%.

Previously, in May 2023, the Phu Tai Central consortium was also approved to win the bid in Package No. 12.XL: Construction of foundation, road surface and works on the route invested by the Management Board of Investment and Construction of the Economic Zone of Ha Tinh province. This package has an estimated price of more than 513.322 billion VND, the winning bid price of the consortium is more than 512.8 billion VND. Saving about 522 million VND, equivalent to saving about 0.1% for the state budget.

Also with the above investor, at the end of 2022, this company's consortium also won Package No. 18.XL: Construction of foundation, road surface and works on route No. 1, section Km4+100-Km8+799.03. The estimated price of the package is more than 375.563 billion VND, the winning bid price of the consortium is more than 375.344 billion VND. Saving about 219 million VND, equivalent to a savings rate for the state budget of about 0.05%.

Similar to package 06.XL: Construction of foundation, road surface and works on the route approved by the Ha Tinh Provincial Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board in the same year, the Phu Tai Central consortium won the bid with a price of more than 220,663 billion VND. Compared to the estimated price of the package of 221,061 billion VND, the winning bid price saved 398 million VND, the savings rate for the state budget was 0.18%.

In Soc Trang, in January 2023, the Phu Tai Central consortium won Package No. 09: Construction of works, invested by the Project Management Board of Soc Trang Province 2. The package had an estimated price of 56.908 billion VND, this consortium won the bid with a price of 56.885 billion VND, saving 23 million VND, the savings rate for the state budget was only 0.04%.

Also with the above investor, in July 2023, Phu Tai Central and the consortium continued to win Package No. 02: Construction of a project with an estimated cost of more than 108,134 billion VND. The winning bid price was more than 108,092 billion VND. Saving 58 million VND, the savings rate for the state budget was only about 0.05%.

In Can Tho, this company is quite familiar with the bidding packages of the Can Tho City Irrigation Department and especially won the bid in an independent role. Specifically, in the period of 2019 - 2020, Phu Tai Central was assigned to construct many urgent bidding packages to overcome landslides such as: O Mon River anti-erosion embankment, Riverbank anti-erosion embankment at locations at risk of dangerous landslides at the junction of O Mon River and Rach Tra, overcoming the situation of riverbank landslides on Giao Dan canal... The bidding value of these packages is up to over 100 billion VND.

Among the bid packages related to the Irrigation Department of Can Tho City, only the Construction and Installation bid package of the O Mon River Anti-Erosion Embankment Project - Thoi An area, O Mon district (right bank - section from Rach Vam to Tam Vu ferry), Can Tho City is the open bid package that Phu Tai Central won as an independent bidder. This is a bid package with an estimated price of more than 73,442 billion VND, the winning bid price of this company is more than 72,999 billion VND. Saving the budget 443 million VND, equivalent to a savings rate of 0.6%.

Notably, recently, Phu Tai Central has expanded its bidding activities to Tien Giang province when participating in the bidding for the Construction Package (sections 3,4) of the Provincial Agricultural and Rural Development Project Management Board in an independent role. This package belongs to the Project to handle urgent landslides on Cai Be River (Cai Be district, Tien Giang province) with an estimated cost of more than 72 billion VND.

Revenue of hundreds of billions of dong but profit is only… symbolic

According to the research of the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper, Phu Tai Central was established in the early years of the 21st century in Ha Tinh city. After more than 20 years of establishment and development, Phu Tai Central Group has now become a famous contractor, a "big name" in the construction and transport infrastructure market.

The name of Phu Tai Central Group is associated with businessman Nguyen Hai Lam (born in 1970), originally from Ha Tinh. Mr. Nguyen Hai Lam is currently the founder, current Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of the company.

In June 2016, this enterprise registered to increase its charter capital from 15 billion VND to 50 billion VND (in which Mr. Nguyen Hai Lam contributed 80% equivalent to 40 billion VND), but the capital contribution was disrupted, causing the actual charter to remain only 15 billion VND throughout the next two years 2017 - 2018.

2017 can be considered a pivotal year for Phu Tai Central Group when Mr. Nguyen Hai Lam decided to change the name from the former Phu Tai Central Construction Investment Joint Stock Company and take on the title of "group". However, it was not until 2019 that Phu Tai Central Group had a real turning point when it increased its charter capital from 15 billion VND to 50 billion VND.

Also since 2019, Mr. Nguyen Hai Lam's enterprise began to attract attention when it won two consecutive construction packages worth more than 113 billion VND from the Can Tho City Irrigation Department (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho City). Through direct bidding, Phu Tai Central Group was selected as the contractor to implement two important local projects despite bidding very close to the estimated price. By 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Phu Tai Central Group continued to win two more construction packages at the Can Tho City Irrigation Department.

From 2021 to 2023, this enterprise continuously won many large-value bids in Ha Tinh, Can Tho and Soc Trang with very low savings rates.

Thanks to continuously winning bids for many large projects, it is not surprising that Phu Tai Central Group earns hundreds of billions in revenue each year. After 2 years of decline in the period 2021-2022, the company's revenue skyrocketed to over 300 billion VND in 2023, double the previous year. This is also a record revenue for Phu Tai Central Group.

However, the profit of this contractor is not commensurate with the expenditure fluctuating around several hundred million per year. In 2023, the after-tax profit of Phu Tai Central Group reached a record but was only less than 600 million VND. With a meager profit, Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam's company only pays a few hundred million VND in taxes annually, a very small number compared to the size of the company.

Since 2020, Phu Tai Central Group's total assets have continuously increased sharply and reached VND 440 billion by the end of 2023, which is nearly 5 times after 3 years. Despite the strong capital increase, most of the company's assets are still financed by debt capital.

Total liabilities have increased sharply over the past 3 years to VND 386 billion at the end of 2023, more than 7 times the owner's equity. Phu Tai Central Group's liabilities mainly come from capital appropriation from customers and suppliers. Financial debt is almost negligible.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/lien-tuc-trung-thau-sat-gia-tap-doan-phu-tai-mien-trung-cua-ong-nguyen-hai-lam-doanh-thu-hang-tram-ty-dong-nhung-loi-nhuan-chi-tuong-trung-post300614.html