Masan’s 1Q revenue doubles to over $751 million on growing retail arms

However, the conglomerate reported VND216 billion ($9.2 million) loss in the quarter from VND1 trillion ($42.6 million) profit from a year ago due to coronavirus outbreak and loss from retail arm acquired from Vingroup.   

Masan Consumer posted 22.4% net revenue growth in the first quarter, driven by nearly 60% growth in convenience foods and double-digit growth in processed meat. 

Meanwhile, VinCommerce, a new member of Masan, posted 40.3% topline year-on-year growth in the reported quarter. The growth was contributed by 27 VinMart supermarkets and 1,192 VinMart+ minimarkets.

Although Masan's first-quarter revenue continued to grow, its new member, its new member still suffered losses. The loss has reduced to half compared to the same period last year.

“To be frank, I did not expect the transformation of VinCommerce to happen this soon. We have cut losses by half and still delivered strong topline growth. Many will say that this is a short-term boost from COVID-19, but to me, this is the start of a structural shift to modern trade,” said Chairman Nguyen Dang Quang.

The pandemic is expected to accelerate the modernization of Vietnam’s grocery sector and the rate of change will be unimaginable, he added.

Masan MEATLife’s meat business continued scaling up with VND453 billion in net revenue in the quarter, a growth of nearly 85% compared to the final quarter of 2019. Revenue grew by 6.4% to VND3,397 billion from VND3,192 billion in first-quarter 2019 with the meat business emerging as the biggest growth driver.

The group operates 27 VinMart supermarkets and 1,192 VinMart+ minimarkets. Photo courtesy of Masan

While the retail arms witnessed double-digit growth, the coronavirus outbreak has adversely impacted Masan Resource and made Techcombank’s profitability growth targets more challenging to achieve.

The bank is focused on maintaining a conservative balance sheet and maintaining ample liquidity to offset the pandemic impact.

The country has started to re-open its economy and ease up on social distancing measures. With the business result achieved in the first quarter, Masan expects double-digit growth in consolidated net revenue for 2020, with profitability to catch up in the second half of the year.

► Masan Group reports 2019 profit at $240 million, up 13% from 2018