SABECO's AGM announced record after- tax profit of US$236 million. Photo courtesy of SABECO

HCM CITY Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Corporation (SABECO) reported a record performance in 2022 as after-tax profit grew 40 per cent to VNĐ5.5 trillion (US$236 million) at its annual general meeting of shareholders held in HCM City on Thursday.

According to audited consolidated financial statements 2022, SABECO recorded VNĐ34.9 trillion in net revenue, increasing 32 per cent compared to 2021. This was a significant achievement compared to 2021 results and after-tax profit has been the highest in the company’s history.

Despite the various challenging market conditions and difficulties post-COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 results again demonstrated SABECO’s resilience and strength of the business it has developed. 

2022 also marked an important milestone for SABECO as the corporation progressed into Phase 2 of its transformation journey with six strategic pillars namely sales, brand and marketing, production, supply chain, people and unlocking supported by SABECO 4.0 and governance. The excellent business result in 2022 also reflected SABECO's accomplishments in transforming its core business processes, accelerating its marketing and sales initiatives, and improving continuous cost management and operational efficiency across the entire supply chain through SABECO 4.0 implementation.

Given the record profit, the board had proposed a special dividend of 15 per cent, which was approved at the AGM, bringing the full-year dividend of 2022 to 50 per cent. To further enhance shareholders’ value, the proposal on bonus share issuance in the ratio of 1:1 was also approved.

As part of its long-term growth plan, SABECO has also expanded its mid-to-long-term strategic investment initiatives in 2022 with the aim to further strengthen SABECO fundamentals to support sustainable business growth. This includes the recent strategic moves to increase SABECO’s ownership in Saigon Bình Tây Beer Group JSC and Saigon Packaging Group JSC. These two companies will become subsidiaries upon completion of the relevant procedures. 

In addition, SABECO also announced its intention to increase its ownership in Western-Saigon Beer JSC from 51 per cent to more than 70 per cent.  These moves will help SABECO to realise synergies, improve cost and operational efficiencies, and expand its product portfolio.

Bennett Neo, General Director of SABECO announced the company's business results in 2022. Photo courtesy of SABECO

Bennett Neo, General Director of SABECO, said: “2022 was a breakthrough year for SABECO, with a new record in after-tax profit. We were able to grow our market share, net revenue and after-tax profit reaching VNĐ5.5 trillion, an increase of 40 per cent compared to 2021. This is a result of our collective efforts in driving sales, the right investment strategy and efficient cost management. SABECO affirms our continuous commitment to bringing out the best of Việt Nam, and we have shown it throughout our activities and have continued to make outstanding progress in various areas to improve our competitiveness, and strengthen our position as one of the leading beer companies in the region.”

In 2023, SABECO has set a revenue target of VNĐ40.2 trillion and after-tax profit at VNĐ5.7 trillion, a 15.1 per cent and 5 per cent year-on-year increase, respectively.

SABECO will continue to step up its transformation journey with a greater focus to improve its position in the domestic market and expand its penetration internationally through strategic efforts on sales and marketing activities, developing a stronger product portfolio, and strengthening its route to market and distribution, while continuing to drive production and supply chain efficiencies, as well as digitising business processes within SABECO.

Together with its business development objectives and action plans, SABECO will continue reinforcing its 4Cs sustainable development commitment, which includes driving ESG initiatives that are in line with the corporate goals and Việt Nam national strategies. The corporate is committed to continuing its effort as a proud, prominent, and responsible corporate citizen to support its ambition to bring out the best of Việt Nam.

Chairperson of the AGM and Board Member, Michael Chye said: “The business environment remains challenging with various uncertainties driven by the global economy, the unpredictable and fierce competition. However, we remain committed to investing in opportunities that drive long-term growth and increase shareholder returns. This will enable us to reward our shareholders with dividends that are sustainable and in line with the company’s long-term growth prospects.”

At the AGM, it was announced the appointment of Lester Tan Teck Chuan as the new General Director of SABECO effective October 1, 2023. Lester will succeed Bennett Neo Gim Siong who will be completing his 5-year term as General Director and will return to the head office at the end of September 2023.

Lester is currently the Chief Beer Business Thailand of Thai Beverage PLC and has assumed this role since 2020. With more than 25 years of experience in the beer industry and leading various companies across multiple markets in Asia, Lester will begin as General Director of SABECO after the handover period.

Michael Chye said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bennett for his sterling contributions to SABECO during his five-year tenure as General Director. The transformation journey spearheaded by Bennett since 2018, progressing from Phase 1 to now Phase 2 leaves SABECO on a very good footing for sustainable success. Some of the initiatives kick-started by Bennett included the relaunch of Bia Saigon and 333 brands in 2019, the launch of new mass premium Bia Saigon Chill in 2020, SABECO 4.0, performance-based salary restructuring as well as the brewery capacity expansion projects and the recent brewery acquisition projects were instrumental to the transformation success of SABECO, building a solid foundation for further success. In addition, Bennett is a great supporter of CSR and has championed many activities, notably the “Rise with Việt Nam” relay in 2020 where SABECO dedicated its 145th-anniversary celebratory efforts to support the vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic by joining hands with the government. Bennett will continue to lead SABECO until the end of this September and to ensure a smooth transition over to Lester.” VNS