The 1st Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) 2024 of CII failed to take place due to the insufficient attendance ratio of shareholders. Photo: Thuong Ngoc
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Lottery draw might be organized to encourage shareholder participation
Regarding the multiple failed attempts at hosting the AGM right from the first time, CII General Director Le Quoc Binh shared that it is very hard to solve the issue as the period from the finalization of the shareholder list to the day of the meeting is quite long, and many investors who owned CII shares on the finalization day sold them later, leading to a drop in the level of interest towards the day of the meeting.
About the reason why the General Meeting wasn’t held at 5-star hotels, CII General Director compared the situation to the “chicken-and-egg” paradox, as it is mandatory for the company to choose a 500-person large room as a precaution, but there is no certainty that there will be a sufficient number of shareholders attending, hence resulting in the wastage of tens of thousands of USD if the meeting is unsuccessful.
Mr. Binh shared that he has an idea to organize a lucky draw with valuable prizes, which can be up to 300-500 million, on the day of the General Meeting in order to draw shareholders to attend. He said that he will present this plan to the Board of Directors and only implement it if it is approved.
Speeding up the investment into De Lagi project
Even though the General Meeting could not proceed, CII General Director Le Quoc Binh still shared the business results of 2023 as well as the company’s plan for 2024. Specifically, he indicated that CII focused on 3 targets in 2023.
First is to ensure the stability of BOT projects and real estate such as the 152 Dien Bien Phu building or Son Tinh – Quang Ngai. Second is to strengthen the legal aspects of real estate projects such as completing the 1/500 planning of the De Lagi project. Third is the cash flow restructuring since all of CII‘s loans currently have terms of 10-14 years and the payment cash flow is associated with the toll collection process of the projects, so Mr. Binh confirmed that CII has the capability to pay off its debts and will prevent the occurrence of overdue debts.
Regarding the year 2024, the CII Director General said that the company will concentrate on several targets such as achieving and maintaining a profit level of over 400 billion VND as planned; focusing on completing the legal aspects of two real estate projects, NBB2 and NBB3; finalizing negotiations with operating organizations to exploit the De Lagi project; concentrating on new investments in several activities with an investment level of approximately 2,000 billion VND; focusing on bid preparation for PPP projects in Ho Chi Minh City as well as central regions, currently there are 2 projects which might be bid in 2025, Thu Thiem 4 bridge and Nguyen Huu Tho road expansion project, CII is proceeding with flow measurement and other parameters; preparing investment documents, feasibility reports for the project of expanding the Ho Chi Minh City – My Thuan expressway; continuing the cash flow restructuring through insurance funds.
Sharing more about the legal status of two NBB projects, Mr. Binh said that it is impossible to predict when these two projects will be open for sale due to general legal problems in Ho Chi Minh City. As for the NBB3 project, it has obtained no less than 200 seals from government agencies but still lacks a document approving the investment policy. Hence, CII has decided to solve the issues as they arise, but it will be very time-consuming.
Regarding the project that was just approved for 1/500 planning last year, De Lagi, Mr. Binh said that the total investment of the project is around 25,000 billion VND, CII will divide it into stages for implementation, and at the same time work and sell the products. Notably, this project doesn’t need a capital mobilization license as it is tourist real estate, so CII is working with a consultant to plan the products that will be included in the project. After the announcement, CII will continue to work with a sales consultant to determine what to sell first. At the present time, the company is focusing on infrastructure construction.
The target of increasing profit by 10% in 2024 is feasible
Specifically, according to the documents submitted to the General Meeting, in 2024, CII believes that this continues to be a challenging year for businesses due to concerns over the global economic recession. Therefore, the company will focus on tasks such as: maintaining stable operations of the current BOT projects, ensuring a stable source of revenue and a steady growth of the business; continuing the restructuring and mobilization of capital to optimize the cash flow from BOT projects; focusing on recovering the capital and profit of investment portfolios; continuing to research new infrastructure projects for expansion.
Specifically, CII has set a target for 2024 to record a total revenue of 4,194 billion VND and a net profit of 430 billion VND, a decrease of over 11% in revenue but an increase of nearly 10% in profit.
Regarding the feasibility of the plan, CII General Director believes that the profit target set by the company has a solid foundation, so he is confident that the company will achieve it. As for the business results of the first quarter, Mr. Binh shared that the company is currently finalizing the settlement, so there are no specific numbers yet, but the profit figure will not be small.
The detailed plan for each sector, first is the road and bridge infrastructure sector, the toll revenue in 2024 is expected to reach 2,441 billion VND, an increase of nearly 45% compared to 2023. This increase is mainly attributed to the increase in toll prices at the National Highway 1 expansion project in Ninh Thuan province and Co Chien bridge, along with the consolidation of revenue from the Trung Luong – My Thuan expressway project from the beginning of the year.
CII will continue to focus on researching new transportation infrastructure projects, especially in the context of Resolution 98 being issued, creating special mechanisms for PPP projects in Ho Chi Minh City.
As for the real estate sector, the company will continue to operate, lease offices and commercial areas in completed projects, and continue to complete legal documents for projects that are currently under investment.
Regarding profit distribution, CII plans to distribute dividends for 2023 and 2024 in cash with the same rate of 16%.
Currently researching the investment in a company under Tasco
Sharing about CII‘s current investment plan, Mr. Binh said that the company is in the process of negotiating to acquire 100% of a BOT project with an investment of approximately 1.6 trillion VND, and the negotiation is expected to be completed in the second half of May 2024. He commented that if the Trung Luong – My Thuan project is a 10 out of 10, then this project is around 9 out of 10, maybe even 11 out of 10.
In addition, CII is also researching the investment in a company in the same industry, affiliated with Tasco, which has extremely great potential, but the name cannot be disclosed at this time. This investment is expected to be closed by the end of May, beginning of June 2024, and CII‘s investment level could reach trillions of VND as this company has a large market and can be a unicorn of Vietnam.
In the report on the results of the capital increase issuance in 2023, CII said that as per the request of bondholders of the <
