Auto producer Thaco makes heavy investment in agriculture

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) will up the ante on investment this year as it is fast expanding into agriculture and property sectors.

The country's biggest automobile producer announced in a recent annual shareholder meeting that it will spend around $656 million on investment this year, or 43 per cent increase against last year.

Thaco will triple investment in agriculture compared to last year to reach $315 million this year.

Thaco has signed a deal to purchase 20,000 hectares of land from Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agricultural Company and recently established a subsidiary specialized in agriculture and animal husbandry.

Thaco chairman Tran Ba Duong said the company would continue positioning mechanical engineering and automobile production as its key business in the multidisciplinary plan.

Accordingly, Thaco will invest $190 million in mechanics and automobile production this year, an increase of 9 per cent against last year.

Thaco, which is assembling Mazda and Peugeot cars in central province of Quang Nam, will build major automobile spare parts manufacturing factories, including engine factories in order to increase localization rates for vehicles.

Thaco last year sold more than 97,000 cars and it aims to bring the number to 110,000 this year.

Duong said the company would develop other strategic sectors, including transport infrastructure, industrial parks, agriculture and forestry, logistics, trading and services.

Thaco vice chairman Nguyen Hung Minh revealed the company had earned nearly $648 million in revenue and $42 million in consolidated after-tax profit in the first quarter of 2019.

Thaco set a target of $3.5 billion in revenue and $271 million in consolidated after-tax profit this year, an increase of 17 per cent and 3 per cent year-on-year respectively.

The annual shareholders meeting voted two new members to the company’s board of directors

Among them, Lee Yong-bum, head of foreign direct Investment of Techcombank, will be in charge of managing finance, accounting, credit and relations with banks.

The other new nominee is Stephen Patrick Gore, chief financial officer of Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited who will take responsibility for assessing, managing risks in financial operations and investment.