Vietnam’s Sabeco earns USD 235 million in after-tax profit in 2022

Vietnam | The beer and beverage industry was hit hard by the pandemic, when restaurants, bars and hotels were forced to close. However, the brewing industry has seen a rapid recovery.

Vietnam’s state media reported in January that the beverage sector grew between 6 percent and 6.5 percent in 2022. Brewers produced 46 million hl beer, up 12 percent over 2021, equalling 88.5 percent of the pre-pandemic 2019 volume.

Vietnam’s brewer Sabeco, in which Thailand's ThaiBev controls a 54 percent stake, achieved an after-tax profit of nearly VND 5,500 billion (USD 234.6 million) in 2022, up 40 percent year-on-year, and the highest level since it was acquired by the Thai group at the end of 2017.

The company recorded a net revenue of nearly VND 35,000 billion (USD 1.49 billion), up 32 percent over 2021, and just 8 percent shy of its 2019 results.

Who controls the market?

Sabeco operates 26 plants across Vietnam, with a total capacity of around 20 million hl per year. It claims market leadership with a share of 40 percent. However, this seems doubtful as, in 2020 already, Sabeco had lost the number one position to Heineken’s local subsidiary. Other sources (statista.com) say that in 2021 Heineken held 44 percent of the market, followed by Sabeco (34 percent), Habeco (7.4 percent) and Carlsberg (8.7 percent).

Heineken has six breweries in Vietnam. Its brewery in Vung Tau (some 60 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City), whose capacity was increased to 11 million hl in 2022, is southeast Asia’s largest.

Sabeco’s historic rival Habeco, in which Carlsberg has a stake, reported after-tax profit of VND 527 billion (USD 22.5 million) for 2022, up 63 percent year-on-year. The company posted net revenue of VND 8,398 billion (USD 358.2 million), up 21 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam is the third-largest beer producing country in Asia, behind China and Japan. The beer market was valued at USD 11 billion at retail level in 2021.