Mar 23, 2012

Vietnam - Real estate firms have to pay 7 trillion dong a month in loan interest

VietNamNet Bridge – The total bank loans provided to real estate developers have reached 200 trillion dong. With the current average interest rates of 20-22 percent per annum, real estate firms have to spend 7 trillion dong a month for bank loans’ interest. As such, the cash is just enough to pay the interest of one quarter.

One dollar is equal to 21,000 Vietnam dong.

According to Nguyen Van Duc, Deputy Chair of the HCM City Real Estate Association, the total sum of cash held by construction companies is about 9 trillion dong, while the loans have reached 200 trillion dong. This means that the real estate firms would be penniless after the second quarter of the year.

Bankruptcy is inevitable for many real estate firms

The list of the real estate which was dissolved in 2011 includes many unknown names, which did not get the sympathy from the public about their poor business performance. Most of the firms were the ones set up in the golden age of the real estate market, in 2006-2007, when people believed that real estate development was the most profitable business field.

In 2008, the Cong Dia Oc Joint Stock Company in district 1 of HCM City was established with the modest chartered capital of one billion dong only, which was later raised to 6 billion dong. The firm made a big profit in the first period of operation, after it got the right to act as the exclusive distributor of some projects. However, since 2009, when the market became gloomy, the firm has been facing big problems. In 2011, the company was sold at 600 million dong.

RichLand Saigon, also a real estate firm, was established in the period with 20 officers. However, it quietly shut down just after a short operation period. Many other firms faced the same situation. Cong Su, Dat Giau and Phat Loc all have stopped operation, while Song Phat Real Estate has closed three out of its four branches.

Among the companies which stay alive, 60-70 percent of enterprises are sitting idle with products unsold, while every enterprise has to spend 50-60 billion dong to keep the operation. The number of real estate firms to be dissolved is believed to increase dramatically in the second and third quarters of the year.

Duc said that real estate firms now do not expect the “rescue” from banks any more, because they understand that this will not happen. Banks do not have much capital to lend to real estate developers, who they know cannot sell products and bog down in big difficulties. Some commercial banks have stated that they will not lend to real estate firms this year.

Real estate assets besieged

An import company which trades structural steel in Tan BIih district, complained that it is still cannot pay tax because the banks have refused to provide loans after they have blocked the company’s assets and goods.

The company mortgaged all of its goods and houses for the bank loans. However, as the import steel remains unsalable, the company cannot get money to pay bank debts. As a result, the bank has blocked the mortgaged assets.

A member of the board of directors of the company said that the value of the mortgaged assets is 50 times higher than the company’s debt. “We asked the bank to apply a flexible policy which allows us to sell products to pay debts, but we did not reach any agreement,” he complained.

According to the HCM City Taxation Department, the unpaid tax in the first two months of the year increased by 15 percent. The noteworthy thing is that the majority of the companies which still owe tax, were the good tax payers in the previous years.

Source: Dat Viet

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