Dr. Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of Masan Group shared: “WinCommerce is on track to reap sustainable profits in 2024. Masan Consumer Holdings is returning to its growth trajectory. Masan's global FMCG foundation has shown positive results when CHIN-SU chili sauce landed in the top 8 best-selling products on Amazon. MEATDeli is starting to attract consumers on a large scale. The process of digitizing the Vietnamese consumer market is accelerating with the WIN membership program reaching 8 million participating consumers. Masan will continue to "keep going", constantly creating value for Vietnam, consumers, shareholders and Masaner!".

With a strong financial foundation, Masan Group is confident in promoting development plans towards the target of net revenue fr om 84,000 to 90,000 billion VND in 2024, and to be one of the potential stocks of the Vietnam market.

According to the Q4/2023 financial report of Masan Group (HOSE: MSN), this enterprise currently has nearly VND 17,000 billion in cash and bank deposits, among the top 20 companies with the largest amount of cash on the stock exchange. Cash and cash equivalents are expected to increase by nearly 7,000 billion VND after the equity investment led by Bain Capital, bringing the total amount held to 1 billion USD in the near future. Masan's free cash flow (FCF) has improved to VND 7,454 billion in 2023, a significant increase compared to VND 887 billion in 2022.

In addition, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank), stock code TCB, has just announced documents for the 2024 annual general meeting of shareholders, scheduled to be held on April 20th, in Hanoi. Accordingly, Techcombank's shareholder meeting document this time mentioned the dividend payment plan. The Board of Directors (BOD) submitted to shareholders a cash dividend plan for 2023 of 15%/share (1 share receives 1,500 VND), calculated on the total number of outstanding shares at the time of closing the list of rights to receive dividends in cash.

Masan Group currently owns 19.9% of the ownership interest in TCB and with this dividend payment, Masan can receive more than 1,000 billion VND in cash from TCB. This amount of money will help increase Masan's liquidity, reduce interest costs, and optimize the balance sheet. This factor also positively contributes to MSN as the potential stock of Vietnam market.

Commenting on TCB's business results, Rong Viet Securities (VDSC) said that TCB's business activities have signaled a bottom. Specifically, according to the report, in the 4th quarter of 2023, TCB's total operating income and profit before tax reached 11 trillion (+16.9% YoY and +5.8% QoQ) and 5.7 trillion (+21. 6% YoY, -1.2% QoQ). It can be seen that the bank's operating income has begun to recover from Q4/2023, while good control of operating costs is the driving force for Q4's profit growth over the same period. Since TCB has partially taken control of some bottlenecks relating to capital costs, IB activities, and banca activities, VDSC anticipates that this trend will continue to improve in the upcoming quarters. With the above positive points, 2024 will witness a significant increase in the contribution from TCB to Masan's overall profit.

In addition to CHIN-SU fish sauce that is already popular in the international market such as: CHIN-SU salmon, VIP East Sea anchovies, in October 2023, CHIN-SU fish sauce products with East Sea anchovies 720 - the newest product line in the CHIN-SU fish sauce collection, have also been exported to many markets such as the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Japan. Previously, in March 2023, during its launch at Foodex Japan, the CHIN-SU seasoning set immediately stole the spotlight and attracted diners of the land of cherry blossoms with its unique and new flavor. As a result, just over a month after the event, the spice set was officially released on Japanese supermarket shelves and received an enthusiastic welcome from the people and high praise from culinary experts.

After Japan, in May 2023, CHIN-SU spices continued to be showcased at Seoul Food and were highly praised by Korean people. Many diners expressed their wish that the spice set will soon be available in this country so they can use it and combine it with many dishes of the land of kimchi.

Following the success of 2023, last March, Masan Consumer just had another impressive launch, featuring a set of specialty spices and powders, Sriracha chili sauce and CHIN-SU spring rolls, each was carefully selected from the specialties of each Vietnamese region to consumers in Japan and partner representatives from more than 60 other countries and regions.

Entering 2024, Masan Consumer accelerates its "Go Global" strategy, increasing its customer base to 8 billion consumers, aiming for 15% of sales in 2027 to come from international business. With a current proportion of 4%, Masan Consumer needs to set a growth rate of 2 - 3% per year, equivalent to an increase of nearly 4 times by 2027. Rounds of successful export to major markets not only marks a new step forward for Masan Consumer, but also contributes to affirming the position of Vietnamese flavors on the world culinary map, helping to promote the country's image in the long run.

Launched at the end of May 2023, WinCommerce's WinMart+ Rural store chain has spread nationwide. WinCommerce is the first retail chain to design its own model for customers in rural areas, wh ere 65% of Vietnam's population is concentrated. WinMart+ Rural is a store model with an operating area of 80m2 - 120m2; located in suburban and rural areas with low urbanization to target middle-income customers. The unique features of the model include: a streamlined product list, a newly designed identity and shelf interior. This will help give customers an airy and convenient shopping experience; provides peace of mind while shopping for "Cheaper - Better Quality" goods.

Previously, this retailer also successfully launched two new supermarket models (Premium and Urban) in urban areas, attracting a lot of attention from consumers nationwide. Following these successes, WinCommerce also continuously opened the WIN store chain in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. WIN is a multi-convenience store model that has been in operation since September 2022, bringing a new experience to customers by simultaneously meeting daily needs including: necessities (WinMart+), financial services (Techcombank), telecommunications services (WinTel) and beauty products (Hi!Beauty) featuring many reputable cosmetic brands.

Currently, WinCommerce's supermarket and store models are receiving very positive signals from consumers. In an unfavorable economic environment, these models are making "speedy" progress to conquer the hearts of consumers in both urban and rural areas.

WinCommerce continued to grow in EBIT and recorded a positive profit after tax (NPAT) for the grocery product group in the fourth quarter of 2023, an important milestone for WinCommerce's path to reaching break-even NPAT for the whole year. This retailer records a revenue of VND 30,054 billion in 2023 and VND 7,653 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of 2.3% and 3.0% respectively over the same period last year thanks to the positive impact of opening new stores, converting stores and upgrading store models.

With the "WIN Membership" program combined with WinCommerce, Masan MEATLife offers discounts of up to 20% for members on MEATDeli chilled pork and chilled chicken products. In addition, WIN members also receive a refund of up to 5% when paying through Techcombank.

Because of its unprecedented incentives, the WIN membership program has helped to narrow the price gap between chilled meat and meat sold at traditional markets, encouraging customers to use chilled meat more often, boosting sales. Daily sales at each WinCommerce point of sale increased sustainably by 33% from January to the end of 2023. This is also one of the businesses' efforts to support consumers in a challenging economic environment.

According to Masan Group's financial report, Masan MEATLife's revenue and EBITDA growth are solid in 2023 and reached stable EBIT in the fourth quarter of 2023. Masan MEATLife's revenue increased by 46% in 2023 thanks to increased sales in most product segments (except for the poultry farm).

Masan MEATLife's EBITDA changed positively to VND 266 billion thanks to an increase of VND 157 billion from the processed meat segment and a significant improvement in the profit margin of branded pork. On a LFL basis, Masan MEATLife reaches VND 6,984 billion in 2023, an increase of 10.9% over the same period last year.

According to the General Statistics Office, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the first quarter of 2024 at current prices are estimated to reach 1,537,600 billion VND, marking an 8.2% increase over the same period in 2023. The food and foodstuff sector saw an 11.6% rise; household appliances, tools, and equipment increased by 16%; garments by 10.1%; accommodation and food services by 15.8%; and travel tourism by a remarkable 66.1%.

Mr. Tran Hoang Son, Director of Market Strategy at VPBank Securities Company (VPBank), noted that the retail industry hit its lowest point in 2023 and is gradually recovering in 2024. Although the recovery is slow, there are many positive expectations, particularly due to the rapid increase in the number of tourists visiting Vietnam.

A tourism industry report indicates that international visitors to Vietnam in the first three months of 2024 reached 4.6 million, a 72% increase from the same period in 2023 and a 3.2% increase compared to the same period in 2019, which was a peak year for tourism before the COVID-19 pandemic.