An English class at an Apax English centre. — Photo cafebiz.vn

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HÀ NỘI — Apax Holdings JSC (HOSE: IBC) is witnessing its stock prices plummet following the enforced collection of tax debts applied to the company last month.

On November 16, the Tax Department of Hà Nội placed a tax lien of VNĐ5.6 billion on the company's bank accounts for reasons of tax arears. The tax authority has sent 17 decisions to nine relevant banks to get the job done.

Following the enforcement, IBC prices have begun to fall session by session. Remarkably, the stock ended the Wednesday session at VNĐ7,070 per share, losing roughly 58 per cent of its prices in one month.

Apax Holdings JSC said IBC hitting floor prices for five consecutive sessions could be attributed to the unfavourable market sentiment amid uncertainties and the grim outlook of the economy.

Regarding complaints against its subsidiary Apax English, the company said it had investigated the complaints and found them reasonable. It admitted that the complaints arise from Apax English's internal issues and said the two companies are working together to handle the issues.

Apax Holdings JSC is a company operating mainly in education, owning Apax English Corporation, Igarten Education JSC, and Firbank Australia School JSC. It is also affiliated with Education Infrastructure Group JSC, CMS International Creative and Intellectual Education JSC, and STEAME Inter-level School Infrastructure JSC.

In its consolidated financial statement in Q3/2022, Apax Holdings JSC post a revenue of VNĐ374 billion. Its after-tax profit hit VNĐ776 million, down 85 per cent year-on-year on account of mounting overheads.

In the first nine months of 2022, the company made a total after-tax profit of VNĐ23.7 billion, of which VNĐ17.3 billion came from Apax English. It is also worth noting that the former holds 66.36 per cent ownership in the latter.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thủy, founder and chairman of EGROUP Education Group JSC, Apax Holdings' parent company, expressed his regrets for the recent delays in liability fulfillment.

He requested shareholders to give him two to three more years to turn the situation around since educational centres owned by the company, which had to cease operation between 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, need time to recover.

He also said the company has been overstretched by various financial liabilities, including payroll, overhead and rent, resulting in occasional failures to fulfill obligations. — VNS