'King of steel', wife to transfer 42M shares to son

Tran Vu Minh will then own nearly 150 million shares. Long, founder and chairman of Vietnam’s biggest steelmaker, Hoa Phat Group, will own 1.5 billion shares, or a 25.8% stake, and his wife 400 million shares, a 6.88% stake.

Hoa Phat executives have been transferring their shares to their children in recent years.

Hoang Quang Viet, a director transferred two million shares to his two children in February; last year another director, Nguyen Ngoc Quang, gifted his daughter five million shares and in 2021 two deputy chairmen, Tran Tuan Duong and Nguyen Manh Tuan, transferred tens of millions of shares their children.

The steel industry has been going through a challenging year with demand declining as property projects stalled.

Hoa Phat said third quarter sales rose by double digits from the previous one, though down 16% year-on-year, to VND28.77 trillion, indicating a recovery.

But post-tax profits soared 200% to VND2 trillion.