By building upon “Firmly Rooted” and promoting the inner strengths, flexibility,
and adaptability to changing circumstances, we are “Growing High” on the journey
towards a leading position.
DEAR VALUED SHAREHOLDERS, CUSTOMERS, PARTNERS, AND ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE COMPANY,
Contrary to the forecasts made at the end of 2022
and the beginning of 2023 during our business
planning, 2023 has proven to be another challenging
year. Most economies across the world experienced
lower-than-expected growth rates, even lower
than those in 2022 when the economic recession
had been assumed to be bottomed out. This was
caused by declining aggregate demand, relatively
high inflation, tightened monetary policies, and
the record level of global public debts. The war in
Ukraine has become increasingly complicated and
unpredictable. Together with the Israel-Palestine
conflict and the Red Sea crisis, it has continued to
escalate geopolitical instability and the risk of supply
chain disruptions to unprecedented levels.
Since the end of 2023, there have been some
positive signs in Vietnam’s economy. However,
sectors that significantly impact Searefico Group’s
operations have continued to decline significantly,
for example, exports decreased by 18.4% and the
number of new construction projects decrease
by 10.5% over 2022. Many reputable players had
to scale down their businesses or withdraw from
the market, especially those in construction, real
estate, and design consultancy sectors, etc., in
addition to laying off 50-75% of their workforce,
but there hasn’t been any sign of recovery yet. In
the meanwhile, with only a few projects in fishery
and F&B sectors, shrinking traditional market, and
difficulties in accessing loans, Searefico’s production
and business activities were facing unprecedented
challenges. Since the end of 2023, there have been
some positive signs in Vietnam’s economy. However,
sectors that significantly impact Searefico Group’s
operations have continued to decline significantly.
Thanks to timely adjustments to the business
strategy and human resource optimization, we
finished the year 2023 with positive growth for all of
our operating performance indicators. It can be said
that the Company has successfully overcome the
storm, though with modest, lower-than-expected
earnings due to uncertain and force majeure
factors, all of the subsidiaries were profitable and
paid salaries in a timely and full manner in addition
to social and health insurance benefits and welfare,
where average employee income grew by more than
3% over 2022. This is a remarkable result compared
to other competitors in the industry.
In 2023, Searefico was ranked among the Top
3 Most Prestigious M&E Contractors; Top 500
Largest Private Enterprises in Vietnam (VNR500);
Top 10 Enterprises with Excellent Business Culture
in Vietnam; Top 5 Listed Companies (Small Caps
Category) with the best corporate governance; and
Top 100 Vietnam Best Places to Work; the total
revenue of the Group reached nearly 1,700 billion
VND, the highest in the 2019-2023 period.
Looking back to move forward, I believe in the
enterprise with unique identities, a tradition of
culture-based and people-focused management,
profit-seeking and society-serving purposes, and a
desire to become rich with the spirit of patriotism
and national pride. By building upon “Firmly Rooted”
and promoting the inner strengths, flexibility, and
adaptability to changing circumstances, we are
“Growing High” on the journey towards a leading
position.
