HÀ NỘI — The military-run telecom group, Viettel, has targeted total revenue of nearly VNĐ32 trillion (US$1.4 billion) from its overseas investment this year, posting 29 per cent year-on-year increase.

Viettel said on July 26 that it also expected to reach a strong growth rate of new subscribers of around 50 million in the foreign market in 2017 or 35 per cent higher from the previous year.

The high growth targets came from the group’s positive business results in the first half of the year, Viettel said, adding that it recorded a pre-tax profit of VNĐ1 trillion (US$41.2 million) from its overseas investments in the period, a 156 per cent year-on-year increase.

In the first six months of this year, its revenue in the nine foreign markets rose by 25 per cent compared to the same period last year, to around VNĐ14 trillion ($600 million).

The positive results were contributed by both traditional and new markets of the telecom provider. Apart from its traditional markets of Laos, Cambodia and East Timor which have brought good net profit to Viettel, other markets in Peru, Burundi and Haiti have also made large contributions to the results thanks to strong growth.

The favourable exchange rate in Viettel’s overseas markets also contributed towards good business results.

Lê Đăng Dũng, Viettel Global General Director said they could earn a relatively big profit by the end of this year if the favourable exchange rate would be maintained. In the two markets of Mozambique and Cameroon, the profits could be $60 million to $70 million.

Dũng said Viettel has built specific plans for each market based on criteria of scale, subscriber growth, service quality and average revenue per user (APRU).

Viettel has targeted an increase in the number of subscribers who are young people in its traditional markets such as Cambodia, Laos and East Timor. Viettel’s Metfone in Cambodia reached seven million subscribers in the first six months of the year while its Unitel in Laos was four million.

In Peru, Viettel has been the provider with the largest 4G coverage of 3,000 base transceiver stations (BTSs). Its Bitel brand name in Peru had two million users using 4G services in the first six months of the year.

The group said it would focus on new business areas such as IT solutions, e-wallet, a population management system and tax payment to maintain its first position in almost all overseas markets as well as creating a momentum for development in the following years.

In the first half of the year, Viettel signed eight big contracts with governments with total value of VNĐ400 billion and revenue of VNĐ270 billion, four times higher than that of last year. — VNS