The COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 a challenging year for global and Vietnam’s economy particularly. In the difficult context, Nam Long Group conducted a series of M&A in the real estate market.

Nam Long has 700 hectares of land in several localities including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, Can Tho and Hai Phong. Photo: Nam Long

Most recently, the Group signed an agreement to buy 30% additional shares from foreign partners and established a complete ownership in a 190ha integrated urban area project in the Eastern area of Ho Chi Minh City. Total investment was estimated at VND 10,000 billion ($434 million). The project is expected to become an important driving force to boost profit growth of Nam Long over the next 5 years.

Large land reserve in strategic locations

Currently, Nam Long has 700 hectares of land in several localities including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, Can Tho and Hai Phong. These are all key economic regions, large cities or tier-2 cities which have positive economic growth potentials and attract a workforce with great housing demand. The Nam Long’s land in the localities has great development opportunities since there are several key infrastructure projects such as highways, airports and seaports are under-construction.

Nam Long is developing integrated urban areas with hundreds of hectares in the Western and Eastern gateway of Ho Chi Minh City such as Waterpoint (355ha) and Izumi City (190ha). Other key projects Nam Long is implementing in Ho Chi Minh City include Mizuki Park (26ha), Akari City (8.5ha) or Nam Long - Can Tho (43ha) in Can Tho City.

The accumulation of a large land reserve is an advantage for real estate businesses to maintain sustainable growth. Land fund and urban housing development is the core business that holds an important role of Nam Long. The group always has a plan for project development in not only 1 year but at least for the next 3-5 years, or even 10 years, said Nguyen Thanh Son, General Director of Nam Long Land.

In fact, a large urban land fund of nearly 700 hectares serving the development strategy of new urban areas in the city was planned 15 years ago. The plan was done after careful research from domestic and international real estate firms. Nam Long has its own choice and is steadfast with that path to overcome challenges, rarely following the market's transient trends, he added.

Despite difficulties caused by the pandemic, Nam Long recorded positive business results in 2020 with net revenue of VND2,217 billion ($96 million), exceeding whole-year goal by 46%.  The corporation reported 2020 profit at VND835 billion, beating target by 3%. The Group also recorded VND3,800 billion in pre-sales for pre-sales by customers in integrated urban projects that are preparing to open for sale.

According to VNDIRECT Securities Company, Vietnam's housing market began to recover from 2021 due to the large-scale recovery economy and reasonable mortgage interest rates which supports the real estate market. The market improved the housing supply recovering after legal bottlenecks have been removed.

“We believe that Nam Long will be one of the most favorable investors as Nam Long's project is in a position to benefit from infrastructure projects, while owning a wide range of products. Many segments meet the real needs of people ", according to VNDIRECT report.

A prominent developer of an integrated urban area

2021 is considered a pivotal year for the breakthrough growth strategy entitled "Dragon Growth Transformation", marking a completely new appearance of Nam Long when the "king" of affordable products becomes a leading and innovative integrated real estate developer.

This strategy match with the current situation when the Vietnam’s real estate market is gradually shifting to a new form to satisfy the demands to have a higher quality living environment. Customers do not only need a place to live, but also a place to meet all of their demands including living - working - playing - shopping - education.

According to Nam Long’s strategy of developing integrated urban areas with a complete ecosystems for residents, beside the traditional affordable and high-end product lines such as Ehome, Flora, Valora ..., the Group will develop new product lines in the mid-end and high-end segments. It also participates in developing other real estate types such as commercial real estate, schools, hospitals, services - entertainment complexes, offices, retail areas, creating high-quality residential communities and have their own lifestyle.

Realizing the goal of becoming a developer of a large-scale integrated urban area by 2030, Nam Long has undergone a strong transformation in its governance structure such as appointing a new CEO, consolidating the leadership system and restructuring the organization towards forming business units.

Each of these units is the operating profit center contributing to profit growth of the Group. Over the next 3 years, net profit contribution from these units is expected to increase by 32% per year on average. The Group also cooperates with a leading strategic consulting brand in the world to set out a plan for outstanding growth in the period of 2021-2030.

In this year, the Group will continue to bring the core business of housing development to maintain growth momentum at 20-25%. The growth rate could be higher in favorable market conditions.

Its business plans of urban areas have been deployed in Waterpoint, Mizuki Park, Akari City. Nam Long started selling the first products of Waterfront urban areas (170ha), Nam Long - Can Tho.

It is expected that the Group will launch more than 3,000 products, from "affordable" EHome apartments, Flora mid-range apartments, townhouses, Valora villas, Valora premium, Grand Villa luxury villas, land plots to meet the diverse demands of the market.

By Nam Minh