In the first half of the year, Central Retail's Vietnamese businesses contributed over 24 billion baht in revenue to its parent group, equivalent to approximately 19,200 billion VND. This figure represents a 2% decrease compared to the same period last year.

This performance places the Thai retailer below some Vietnamese chains operating similar models, such as Bach Hoa Xanh, which reported over 28,305 billion VND, and Masan's WinCommerce, with nearly 23,000 billion VND.

Vietnam stands as Central Retail's second-largest market after Thailand, accounting for 20% of its total revenue. The food segment generated 86% of Vietnam's sales, reaching 20.6 billion baht, consistent with last year. Meanwhile, fashion segment revenue saw a 23% increase, climbing to 1.6 billion baht.

The decline in Central Retail's Vietnam revenue was primarily driven by its electronics segment. Sales in this category amounted to 1.7 billion baht, a nearly 35% drop from last year, following the company's divestment from the Nguyen Kim electronics supermarket chain.

According to the semi-annual financial report, Central Retail finalized the sale of Nguyen Kim to Pico Holdings by the end of April. The transaction was valued at approximately 1.2 billion baht, or over 950 billion VND.

In the first half of the year, Central Retail recorded a 79 million baht liquidation loss and a 49 million baht impairment loss related to the Nguyen Kim transaction. Last year, the company recognized a one-time, non-cash asset impairment loss of 5.9 billion baht from the divestment.

GO! shopping mall in Hai Phong. Photo: GO Supermarket

Central Retail entered the Vietnamese market in 2012 and operates a range of retail brands, including GO!, Tops Market, Lan Chi Mart, and Supersports. The company currently manages 330 stores and shopping centers across 26 provinces and cities nationwide.

As of 30/6, the group's assets in Vietnam totaled approximately 30.8 billion baht, a decrease from 35.5 billion baht reported at the end of last year.

Cumulatively, Central Retail's global revenue for the first half of the year reached nearly 130 billion baht, equivalent to 100,000 billion VND, a nearly 4% decrease year-on-year. Despite the revenue dip, net profit rose by 35.2% to over 5 billion baht, primarily due to cost-cutting measures.

Trong Hieu