Hoa Phat Group (stock code: HPG) has just announced some details in the 2024 Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, the “steel king” sets a target for next year to achieve revenues of VND 140,000 billion and after-tax profit of VND 10,000 billion, up 18% and 47% respectively compared to the 2023 performance. If achieved, this will be the third highest revenue level in history and the highest profit level since 2022.
Regarding profit distribution, with about VND 6,800 billion after-tax profit, Hoa Phat plans to allocate VND 340 billion to the Reward Fund, welfare and VND 68 billion for the remuneration of the Board of Directors and the Control Board. The remaining profit after the fund allocation is VND 6,392 billion. Therefore, Hoa Phat may not pay cash dividends for a second consecutive year.
Instead, the company’s Board of Directors proposes a plan to reward shareholders with a 10% stock dividend. Specifically, Hoa Phat will issue over 581 million shares to increase its charter capital to VND 63,962 billion. The capital source is taken from the surplus of share capital of VND 3,212 billion and part of undistributed after-tax profit with a value of VND 2,603 billion. The implementation time is in the second quarter of 2024, after being approved by the State Securities Commission.
Regarding profit distribution plan for 2024, Hoa Phat plans to allocate a maximum of 5% of the actual profit to the Reward Fund and a maximum of 5% of the after-tax profit exceeding the plan to reward the Management Board. It is noteworthy that the company of billionaire Tran Dinh Long wants shareholders to approve the dividend payment plan for 2024 with an expected rate of 10%.
Regarding the business situation in 2023, Hoa Phat achieved VND 120,355 billion in revenue, a decrease of 16% compared to the same period last year. After-tax profit was VND 6,800 billion, equivalent to 85% of the annual plan.
Accumulated for the first 2 months of 2023, Hoa Phat Group produced 1.38 million tons of crude steel, an increase of 71% compared to the same period in 2023. Sales of HRC steel products, construction steel, high-quality steel, and steel billets reached 1.15 million tons, up 32% compared to the same period.
Of which, construction steel and high-quality steel reached 575,000 tons, a decrease of 2% compared to the first 2 months of 2023. HRC steel contributed 542,000 tons, doubling compared to the same period last year.
With HRC downstream products, Hoa Phat Steel Pipe recorded 88,000 tons after 2 months, a decrease of 17%. Coated sheet reached 66,000 tons, an increase of 39%, mainly thanks to better export volume of sheet in the past 2 months compared to the same period in 2023.
