HCMC – Social distancing restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus led transport firms to incur a sharp drop in profits in the first six months of 2020, with most railway and road transport firms reporting heavy losses.
Vinasun Corporation’s revenue amounted to VND521 billion in the first half of the year, dipping by 50% year-on-year, according to its recent financial report.
The firm sustained VND128 billion in losses in the first half of 2020 while its after-tax profit reached VND61 billion in the same period of 2019.
Vinasun has presented scenarios for the third and fourth quarters of 2020, saying that if the pandemic is contained effectively, its business operations might recover. It is expected to suffer a loss of VND6-8 billion in the third quarter, but the firm will earn a profit of VND25-30 billion in the final quarter of 2020.
Vinasun aims to earn VND1.18 trillion in revenue in 2020, down 41% against the 2019 figure, while it expects to lose VND115 billion this year.
Weak performance triggered by Covid-19 has sent the number of employees at Vinasun down by over 1,100 compared to late 2019. As of June 30, the firm had 4,625 employees.
Facing the same fate, Saigon Passenger Transport JSC saw its net revenue in the first half of the year plunge by 58% year-on-year to VND138.6 billion. The firm incurred a loss of VND119 billion during the six-month period.
As the country is seeing a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, the firm’s 2020 revenue is expected to amount to VND351 billion, while it may sustain VND122.3 billion in losses.
As for railway transport operations, Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) saw VND3.02 trillion in revenue between January and June, meeting 80.6% of the figure seen during the same period in 2019.
Although its cargo transport operations have been maintained to make up for the losses from passenger transport, VNR still suffered a VND450-billion loss in the first half of 2020.
Covid-19 had a tremendous negative effect on VNR’s operations, according to the corporation. From February to May, the railway sector cut over 2,880 train rides.
By Le Anh
