Vietnam Railways reports record half-year revenue

Vietnam Railways, the monopoly state-owned railroad operator, has reported record half-yearly revenues of VND4.5 trillion (US$177.13 million), surpassing its full-year earnings for the years 2019-2021.

At a recent conference, it announced that revenues had increased by more than 10% compared to the same period last year. It targets revenues of VND6.258 trillion for the full year.

It said passenger numbers increased by nearly 21%. It launched specialized services such as the “heritage connection” train between Hue and Da Nang, and charter trains, offering custom itineraries and services in March, and the “Da Lat night train journey” in April.

It has expanded international freight transport, including to Russia, Europe, Mongolia, and Central Asia.

Last year VNR turned the corner after three years of losses, reporting a profit of VND77 billion. But it had accumulated losses of over VND2.08 trillion.

The company has 25 subsidiaries, 17 directly managed units and eight joint venture and associated companies, and manages a railway infrastructure totaling 3,143 km of tracks on 15 routes that run from north to south.

Hanoi Railway Transport and Saigon Railway Transport are the two largest members, and last year they reported profits of VND14 billion and VND11 billion.

Thanks to surging passenger demand, their profits were three times their full-year target in the first quarter of this year.

The two companies are soon set to merge after receiving shareholder approval. They are in the process of completing the procedures for this.