Besides continuing to focus on key residential products, especially low-rise projects, Novaland will expand to smart townships including various indoor and outdoor facilities.

 

The most important milestone will be to expand to hospitality in big cities with high tourism potential. Novaland will focus on seven main areas, including Hoi An town in Danang city, Cam Ranh in Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan, Con Dao in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Can Tho, and Phu Quoc.

 

Under its Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) plan, in the last quarter of 2017, Novaland completed the acquisition of two big projects—Newton Residence (in Phu Nhuan district) and Sunrise Cityview (in District 7), taking on 99.89 and 99.81 per cent ownership, respectively.

 

With eight projects being handed over, and 19 others under development along with M&A activities to expand the land fund, sufficient capital has been gathered to ensure the corporation’s delivery commitments and increase its value on the market.

 

Novaland recorded impressive business performance in the last quarter of 2017. The company continues to focus on the residential segment while expanding to new hospitality and commercial product types as per the second stage of its strategic roadmap.

 

The company’s total assets as of the last quarter of 2017 increased by 35 per cent year-over-year to VND49 trillion ($2.2 billion), based on the increase of cash and cash equivalents, inventories, investment properties, and long-term investments.

 

The current assets of the company now account for 83 per cent of its total assets, in which cash and cash equivalents were doubled to VND6.6 trillion ($293 million) from VND3.3 trillion ($147 million).

 

As of the end of 2017, inventories were reported at VND26 trillion ($1.2 billion), increasing by 70 per cent year-over-year due to properties under construction (VND 24 trillion or $1.1 billion), mainly including land costs, construction costs, consulting and designing fees paid to constructors, and others related costs.

 

Owners’ equity and charter capital increased by 32 and 9 per cent to VND13 trillion ($584 million) and VND6.9 trillion ($306 million), respectively, via the successful private placement of ordinary shares for Credit Suisse AG Bank, Singapore Branch’s loan conversion of $60 million, and the 20 million shares of ESOP issued in the last quarter of 2017.

 

Besides, Credit Suisse also approved to raise the credit limit to $125 million which was fully disbursed for Novaland to finance its projects.

 

Also, in early 2018, the second ESOP issuance of 9.8 million shares will contribute to increasing the charter capital to VND6.59 trillion ($291 million).

 

A highlight of the fourth quarter business performance was the net revenue of VND5.896 trillion ($260 million).

 

Total revenue in 2017 reached VND11.6 trillion ($512 million), improving 58 per cent year-over-year with 3,596 units handed over in 2017 versus 3,325 units in 2016.

 

In accordance with the second stage of the business strategy, Novaland continued to develop key residential products, especially low-rise projects including townhouses, villas, and shop houses. Revenue from the sale of real estate accounted for 94 per cent of the total.

 

There have been 15 projects with nearly 10,000 units handed over to clients with the average absorption rate of 93 per cent so far.

 

By Bich Ngoc