Viettel Global, the international investment arm of military-run Viettel Group, posted an after-tax loss of over VND811 billion (US$34.96 million) in the first nine months of 2018, which is in stark contrast with a net profit of VND273 billion (US$11.76 million) recorded in the same period of last year, local media reported, citing the company's quarterly financial statement.
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According to Viettel Global, the big loss in the third quarter was due to high operational costs generated by Mytel, Viettel Global’s affiliate in Myanmar.
Mytel, which started operation on June 9, required a huge investment of up to US$1.5 billion in the beginning, in turn negatively affecting the business result of Viettel Global. However, Mytel has gained 3.2 million subscribers after three months of establishment, which is expected to generate profit soon, stated the company.
Among Viettel Global’s overseas markets, loss in the African region amounted to over VND2 trillion (US$86.19 million) in the January – September period despite having the highest revenue in all foreign markets of VND5.6 trillion (US$241.28 million).
Additionally, the Southeast Asian market brought in revenue of VND4.54 trillion (US$195.61 million) and an after-tax profit of VND509 billion (US$21.92 million), while those of Latin America amounted to VND1.68 trillion (US$72.36 million) and VND203 billion (US$8.74 million), respectively.
The company’s remaining markets contributed revenue of VND1.87 trillion (US$80.54 million) and an after-tax profit of VND1.27 trillion (US$54.70 million), respectively.
Viettel currently is the only Vietnamese companies having revenue of over US$1 billion in overseas markets. It has some 43 million clients in foreign markets as of the end of 2017, up 15% year-on-year.
Besides Vietnam, the telco is operating in 11 countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Timor East, Peru, Mozambique, Cameroon, Burundi, Tanzania, Myanmar and Haiti.
In 2018, Viettel expects to make a profit in overseas investments with a growth rate of 32% compared to 2017, while expanding its customer base in foreign markets to 50 million.
