HAGL divests from hydropower for farming reroute

By Dat Nguyen December 11, 2019 | 07:25 pm PT

An artist impression of the Nam Kong 2 hydropower plant in Attapeu Province, Laos. Photo courtesy of HAGL.

Agriculture giant HAGL sets sights on farming after agreeing to divest ownership from two hydropower plants in Laos.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) says it has approved the sale of a 99.4 percent stake in Hoang Anh Gia Lai Hydropower JSC to a Laotian company.

HAGL Hydropower owns Nam Kong 2 and Nam Kong 3 plants in Laos’s southeastern Attapeu Province, with a combined capacity of 111 MW.

The unfinished projects cost a total of VND3.4 trillion ($146.84 million) by the end of last year, with Laotian energy company Chaleun Sekong Group having paid an acquisition price of VND2.26 trillion ($97.6 million), or 66.5 percent, in September.

HAGL has not revealed business results from its hydropower projects in recent years, the latest revenue figures at VND122 billion ($5.27 million) in 2013, only 5 percent of the total.

The announcement follows earlier divestment moves by the former real estate giant to focus on fruit production.

HAGL Group posted a revenue of VND1.48 trillion ($63.92 million) in the first nine months, against an accumulative loss of VND1.27 trillion ($54.85 million).