Vietnam’s listed mobile retailer issues $23.5mn in employee share bonuses
Vietnamese Mobile World JSC last week issued seven million shares worth nearly VND535.5 billion (US$23.56 million) in bonuses for about 900 staff members, the first employee stock option plan (ESOP) ever excuted by a listed retailer in Vietnam.
The ESOP is a move adopted by many listed companies to compensate, retain, and attract employees, giving them the right to buy a specific number of the company’s shares at a fixed price within a certain period, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Mobile World move also helped raise the total number of stocks issued by the listed firm, one of the leading mobile device retailers in Vietnam, to nearly 146.9 million worth almost VND1.469 trillion (US$64.63 million), the company said in a statement released on December 14.
By the end of the trading on December 15, shares in Mobile World, coded MWG on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, was priced at VND76,500, up 0.7% day on day.
But MWG said in the statement that even though its officials and employees do not need to spend any money on those new stocks, they must comply with the conditions of transfer restrictions and withdrawal when resigning.
Accordingly, all newly issued shares are banned from being transferred in the first year, and only half of them are allowed to be traded the following year.
Only from December 13, 2017 onward, will all seven million shares are freely transferable.
Also under the terms, MWG will take back all shares issued to any employees resigning their job at the firm, for any reason, at zero Vietnamese dong.
In the first 10 months of this year, the company’s profit was estimated at VND846 billion ($37.22 million), up 56% year on year.
MWG is the biggest mobile device retailer in Vietnam. According to Nguyen Duc Tai, chairman of the board of directors, its market share was 30 percent as of August, followed by FPT, another mobile device retailer, with 10 percent.
According to investment fund Mekong Capital, which is a strategic investor of MWG, the company’s market share in smartphone and tablet retail stands at around 39% as of December 2015.
MWG has forecast total revenue of VND34.16 trillion (US$1.5 billion) and profit after tax of VND1.38 trillion (US$60.72 million) in 2016.