The 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk-VNM) was held on the afternoon of April 25 in an online format. A lot of content about business plans, corporate restructuring, dividends, stock prices and the position of the largest dairy company in Vietnam… is of interest to shareholders and the Board of Directors shares frankly.
Stock price is an issue of concern to shareholders and investors at the meeting. When shareholder Son Tung asked Vinamilk’s board of directors how they evaluated the current VNM stock price and the position of the business, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien said: “You ask me about the stock price of the business, to be honest, I never pay attention to the stock price. I actually have too much work, so I don’t have time to watch whether VNM stock price goes up or down.”
“We only know how to try to operate production and business well, but what the market is like and what people expect is completely beyond our control. We must try to let the business develop , to ensure growth, ensure profits, ensure dividends”, General Director of Vinamilk shared.
Ms. Mai Kieu Lien, General Director of Vinamilk shared with shareholders at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on the afternoon of April 25. (Photo: VNM)
Ms. Lien also said that currently, stock prices in the Vietnamese market are subject to many influences and impacts. At the end of the trading session on April 25, VNM market price was at 64,700 VND/share, up more than 1% compared to the previous day.
Regarding growth in the first quarter, Ms. Mai Kieu Lien said that the dairy industry in particular and the purchasing power of consumer goods industries are still difficult. As for milk, Nielsen statistics show that Vietnam’s milk market decreased by 2.8% in the first quarter of this year. This is also reflected in purchasing power. However, for Vinamilk, the reality is positive, with a growth rate of 5%. Notably, the company’s milk exports increased by 14%.
Preliminarily calculated in the first quarter of the year, Vinamilk’s total consolidated revenue increased by 1.2% compared to the same period in 2023, profit after tax increased sharply by 15.8%.
Analyzing each industry separately, Vinamilk CEO said that the decline in dairy industry growth is due to the sharp decrease in powdered milk due to the decrease in birth rate. In the first quarter of 2024, the purchasing power of baby milk powder will continue to decrease by 20% compared to the first quarter of 2023. And businesses that are holding a large share of the infant formula market are being greatly affected. But there are also many products that are seeing good increases, like Vianmilk, drinking yogurt, nut milk, yogurt, and sweetened condensed milk are increasing by double digits.
Vinamilk will change its entire brand identity starting in 2023 and said it will complete the brand repositioning in 2024. (Photo: VNM)
“ The market signals to us that purchasing power is decreasing, but it also requires us to see which industries we need to focus on to overcome this reduction in purchasing power. There are difficult industries but there are also favorable industries. Finally, we try to make up for it, to achieve the overall result of ensuring business growth ”, Ms. Lien said.
Regarding growth plans, Vinamilk still targets dairy industry revenue to increase by 5-10% in the next 3-5 years depending on the situation.
Ms. Lien also said that it is difficult to increase dividends as desired by shareholders, because 91% of profits are spent as dividends. The company is also not allowed to issue shares to employees.
Vinamilk’s Board of Directors said the business is restructuring, with a 5-year strategy.
Comprehensive restructuring in all areas from brand repositioning, production, livestock, sales, human resources, strong focus on digital transformation… And the results of the restructuring will be shown. currently in the first 2 years, of which 2024 will complete the brand repositioning.
At the meeting, Vinamilk shareholders approved the 2024 dividend plan, with a rate of 38.5% (1 share receives 3,850 VND) equivalent to 2023. Thus, the expected amount of money spent to pay dividends Dividend for shareholders in 2024 will be more than 8,000 billion VND.
Regarding business in 2024, the Board of Directors proposed and shareholders approved a revenue of 63,163 billion VND, an increase of 5% compared to 2023. Profit after tax also increased slightly by 4%, with 9,376 billion VND. In 2023, Vinamilk will achieve revenue of 10,968 billion VND and profit after tax of 9,019 billion VND.
In 2024, Vinamilk will also put beef cattle into business. Ms. Mai Kieu Lien said it is expected that this segment’s revenue will be at 3,000 billion VND per year.
Vinammilk shareholders also approved the 2024 remuneration and benefits for the Board of Directors with a total of 25 billion VND for 11 members.
