Mobile World profits drop to near three-year low

Prolonged social distancing in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi forced the chain to close most of its nearly 2,000 outlets, which brought revenue down by 5 percent to VND24.33 trillion.

The company, however, saw improvement in September as sales went up 28 percent from August to VND8.33 trillion.

To offset plunging sales, Mobile World said it has negotiated with landlords and "received goodwill support from them financially, except for a few."

But many landlords have recently voiced their disagreement with the company, saying it had on its own terms reduced rent for several months in the third quarter, blaming the forced closure from social distancing regulations.

Mobile World has recently launched a new chain, Topzone, which sells authorized Apple products. It plans to have 50-60 such outlets by the end of the first quarter next year.