After much delay, Pomina finally released its Q2 2024 financial report, painting a bleak picture of the company’s financial situation. With a consolidated net loss of 280 billion VND in Q2, Pomina has extended its losing streak to nine consecutive quarters.
Source: Pomina’s Explanation of Q2 Financial Results
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So far, the company has not published a detailed consolidated financial statement. The parent company’s report shows a dismal performance, with an 84% plunge in revenue, amounting to just over 46 billion VND. Notably, the company incurred a gross loss of more than 52 billion VND, surpassing the loss incurred in the same period last year.
Q2 Financial Results of Pomina’s Parent Company
Unit: Billion VND
 Source: VietstockFinance
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For the first six months of the year, Pomina incurred a loss of over 500 billion VND. As of the end of June 2024, the company’s cumulative loss stood at 1,769 billion VND.
The Price of Building a Blast Furnace
In its explanation, Pomina cited the same old reasons: The Pomina 3 and Pomina 1 steel mills remain idle, yet they continue to bear the burden of interest expenses, management costs, and more.
“The company is currently seeking investors for restructuring and hopes to resume production as soon as possible,” Pomina stated in its explanation. They also attributed the delay in submitting the Q2 report to changes in accounting personnel.
In reality, Pomina’s current struggles can be traced back to their decision to undertake the blast furnace project in 2019–2020. Chairman Du Duy Thai shared: “To execute the project, we had to bring in experts from China, but this coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, and not a single expert could enter Vietnam. As a result, the project was prolonged from 2020 to 2021, incurring significant costs for machinery, equipment, and labor.”
Pomina is facing a daunting liquidity challenge. As of the end of June 2024, the company’s short-term assets amounted to just over 880 billion VND (with only 8 billion VND in cash), while short-term debt stood at 6,260 billion VND, including over 3,300 billion VND in financial borrowings.
Struggling to Find Partners
In their quest for a way out, Pomina has been seeking strategic partners, but this journey has been fraught with challenges.
From the plan to issue shares to Nansei (Japan) to the idea of contributing capital to establish Pomina Phu My, various proposals have been made but none have come to fruition. Recently, Pomina announced significant strides in its restructuring strategy, including a strategic partnership with Nansei Steel. As per the agreement, this partner will supply sufficient raw materials for the Pomina 2 plant starting in September 2024. Concurrently, the company also signed a memorandum of understanding with a major investor to restart the blast furnace project in early 2025.
New CEO announced by Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) on last working day of the year, Võ Trường Sơn steps down after 9 years.
Mr. Vo Truong Son has officially resigned after 9 years as the CEO, for personal reasons.
