2 weeks Ago
Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong —Vietnam’s richest person—is investing $2 billion into VinFast Auto amid widening losses at the struggling electric vehicle maker. Vingroup, the flagship company of the Vietnamese tycoon, has also committed to provide VinFast a loan of as much as 35 trillion dong ($1.4 billion), and convert existing loans of about 80 trillion dong into preferred shares.
“Vingroup aims to alleviate short-term financial pressure on the electric vehicle maker,” the company said in a statement. Vinfast has yet to turn a profit since its inception in 2017. It posted a net loss of $772 million in the second quarter, compared with $525.
8 million a year ago. Despite the prevailing losses, VinFast has been expanding across North America, and Europe. It has also entered new markets in the Middle East, Indonesia, India and the Philippines.
“Vingroup will continue to invest significantly in VinFast,” Nguyen Viet Quang, vice chairman and CEO of Vingroup, said in a statement. “Our goal is to solidify VinFast’s market leadership in Vietnam and contribute to the global shift towards electric mobility.” With a real-time net worth of $4.
1 billion, Pham got his start in 1993 by manufacturing and selling instant noodles in Ukraine. He sold the business to Nestle in 2010 and invested the proceeds to start Vingroup, which has since grown to become a conglomerate with interests in real estate, retail, healthcare, education, automotive and technology..
