Golden Hill Invest Faces Forceful Seizure over Nearly 1.3 Trillion Tax Debts

On January 31, 2024, Golden Hill Investment Corporation (Golden Hill Invest), previously known as the investor behind a high-rise project in the heart of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, was seized due to a tax debt of over 1.289 billion VND.

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Specifically, the Director of the Customs Department of Investment Management has decided to enforce the administrative decision on tax management by suspending the customs procedures for the import and export goods of Golden Hill Investment Corporation.

Golden Hill Invest is being enforced due to a tax debt of over VND 1,289 billion for more than 90 days from the deadline for tax payment and the deadline for tax extension. The decision is valid for 1 year, from January 31, 2024 to January 30, 2025.

With the above tax debt, Golden Hill Invest has attracted attention as the second-highest in terms of tax debt amount in the second quarter of 2023, according to the list of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, as of October 31, 2023.

In addition to the tax debt, the company’s business results are also unfavorable. Specifically, according to the latest financial report published, the after-tax profit of Golden Hill Invest in 2022 is negative nearly VND 276 billion, 48 times higher than the previous year. The return on equity (ROE) is even more negatively affected, reaching -11.39%.

Financial situation of Golden Hill Invest in the period 2021-2022

Source: HNX

At the end of 2022, the company’s equity is VND 2,421 billion, down more than 10% compared to the beginning of the year. The total debt payable is nearly VND 12,347 billion, 5.1 times the equity, of which over VND 5,180 billion is the bond debt, corresponding to the remaining value of the GHICB2124001 bond lot, with an issuance value of VND 5,760 billion.

The funds raised from this bond lot are believed to be for investment in the high-rise project at 87 Cong Quynh Street, Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City – a project with a total area of nearly 8,321 m2, of which Golden Hill Invest is the investor.

The bond was issued on April 15, 2021. Also on this day, another company named Voyage Investment Corporation also issued a bond lot with the code VAICB2125001, valued at VND 2,300 billion, with the purpose of raising funds for investment in the high-rise project at 87 Cong Quynh Street. However, as of January 24, 2024, Voyage has bought back the entire bond lot before maturity for 15 months.

Regarding the project, Golden Hill was approved by the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to invest in and recognized as the project’s investor since 2020.

Prior to that, the project was named Ngan Binh Golden Hill Complex with a scale of two 35-storey towers and 444 apartments, owned by Ngan Binh Investment and Construction Company. The project started in 2010. In 2012, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction announced a new plan, increasing the number of apartments to 499. By the beginning of 2017, Ngan Binh merged with Golden Hill Invest. Accordingly, the development rights of the project were transferred to Alpha King. The project was widely promoted under the commercial name Alpha Hill (part of the Alpha City project).

Rendering of the complex high-rise project at 87 Cong Quynh

But at present, as observed, the project does not show any signs of construction. Outside, along Cong Quynh and Nguyen Cu Trinh streets, the project is enclosed with corrugated iron, with trees growing both inside and outside the fence. Most of the advertising boards and information about the project are old, faded, or even removed, making the scenery even more desolate.

It can be seen that after a long period of stagnation and change of ownership, the project is still closed, and basic information such as the investor, project name, and contractor are all empty on the signboards.

Complex high-rise building at 87 Cong Quynh is located at a prime location with two facades on Cong Quynh and Nguyen Cu Trinh streets. Photo: Google Maps

Real image of the project being deserted, far from the rendering after many years – Photo: Huy Khai

What will happen to the “golden land” project at 87 Cong Quynh, District 1?

Huy Khai