Viettel dominates Vietnam’s mobile market with $2bn profit in 2015
Viettel dominates Vietnam’s mobile market with $2bn profit in 2015
Vietnam’s three leading mobile carriers collectively earned a profit of VND56.47 trillion (US$2.52 billion) in 2015, with market leader military-run Viettel accounting for more than 80 percent of the whopping sum.
MobiFone, VNPT, which owns network operator Vinaphone, and Viettel raked in a total of VND348.72 trillion ($15.57 billion) in revenue this year, The Saigon Times Online reported, citing separate financial reports of the companies.
Viettel achieved the most impressive business result, as its profit is more than four times the combined earnings of its competitors, according to a report by the Ministry of Information and Communications.
In 2015, the military-run mobile network operator posted VND222.7 trillion ($9.94 billion) in revenue, up 13 percent from a year earlier, whereas its profit topped VND45.8 trillion ($2.04 billion), an 8.5 percent increase from 2014, according to the company’s report.
In the meantime, MobiFone’s turnover reached VND36.9 trillion ($1.65 billion) in 2015, an 8.29 percent rise, and its profit hit VND7.39 trillion ($329.91 million), a slight rise of 1.3 percent against a year earlier.
MobiFone aims to nearly triple its revenue to VND100 trillion ($4.46 billion) in 2020, the company’s executives revealed at a meeting that set business plans for 2016 on December 25.
VNPT, fully known as the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, reaped a VND3.28 trillion ($146.43 million) profit in 2015, exceeding the target by 11.7 percent and up 20 percent from the 2014 result, the company said at a meeting on December 24.
The state-run VNPT is also the operator of Vietnam’s national post office but its revenue mostly comes from mobile network operations.
MobiFone is managed by the Ministry of Information and Communications, whereas Viettel is owned by the Ministry of Defense.
Viettel boasts 250 million customers in ten countries, mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, whereas MobiFone has around 40 million subscribers, and Vinaphone, 29.7 million.
The Vietnamese telecom market is also joined by two other players, Vietnamobile and Gmobile, but they rarely publicize their financial status, according to The Saigon Times Online.
Vietnamobile is a Business Cooperation Contract partnership between Hanoi Telecom and Hutchison Asia Telecom Group, which comprises mobile telecommunications operations in the emerging markets of Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka, while Gmobile, a successor to Beeline Vietnam, is owned by the Ministry of Public Security-run Global Telecommunications Corp.
Vietnamobile is breaking even and Gmobile has almost ceased operations, The Saigon Times Online said, citing experts with knowledge of the matter.
