A PetroVietnam's drilling platform on the Bạch Hổ oil field. PetroVietnam has secured the top spot on the list of PROFIT500 in 2023. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Vietnam Report and the online newspaper Vietnamnet have announced a list of the 500 most profitable companies (PROFIT500) in Việt Nam in 2023.

Among the companies, the ten on top comprise PetroVietnam, Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thái Nguyên, Viettel, Vietcombank, Techcombank, PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp, BIDV, Military Bank, Agribank, and VP Bank.

The ten most profitable private companies, meanwhile, consist of Techcombank, VP Bank, ACB, VinGroup, VIB, Vinamilk, HD Bank, Hòa Phát, SHB, and TP Bank. 

Foreign direct investment companies maintained the lead in terms of return on assets (ROA) with 13.7 per cent, up 2.7 per cent year-by-year. Companies operating in the private sector came next with 11.2 per cent and were followed by those in the public sector (9.2 per cent).

About one-third of companies on PROFIT500 expected economic growth of between 4.5 and 5.0 per cent for the year 2023. Merely 4.5 per cent anticipated that growth would surpass 5.5 per cent whereas 13.6 per cent forecasted it would be less than 4.0 per cent.

More than half of the companies believed that their profits would improve slightly against the first six months of the year, 4.5 per cent forecasted their profits would stay flat, and 40.9 per cent thought otherwise. 

Approximately three-fourths of the companies cited weakening demand and global uncertainties as the biggest issues holding them back. Other issues include rising input costs, high inflation in large importing countries, and challenges in the realty and corporate bond markets.

"Falling orders and weak market demand have led to higher unsold inventory, putting a lot of pressure on firms' production plans," said Vietnam Report.

Vietnam Report showed that companies were pinning their hopes on supportive policies from the Government, which are expected to create a low-interest environment conducive to their operation. 

Nearly 60 per cent cited cuts in bank lending rates as the driving force behind their profit growth in the second half of the year. Exactly 54.5 per cent relied on cuts in value-added tax whereas 27.3 per cent ticked "the acceleration of public money disbursement".

Vietnam Report also underlined seven key measures to boost profits in the last six months of 2023. Among the measures, expanding into new markets was employed by over 80 per cent of the companies. Enhancing customer services came next with 77.3 per cent, and then seeking new suppliers with about 75 per cent.

It is also worth noting that at the time of the survey, merely 41 per cent of the companies said they had reached over 50 per cent of their profit targets for 2023, lower than the figure of the same time last year (73.9 per cent).   — VNS