HCM City (VNA) - Shareholders of Masan Group have approveda 11 percent cash dividend for 2016 and the remaining 7 trillion VND post-taxprofit will be retained entirely.

Atits shareholders meeting in HCM City on April 24, Masan has set a target ofincreasing sales and net profits by 15-20 percent to over 50 trillion VND (2.19billion USD) and 3.2-3.4 trillion VND this year.

The group reported sales of 43.29 trillion VND last year, a year-on-yearincrease of 41 percent. Its net profit increased to 2.79 trillion VND from 1.48trillion VND.

In the meat value chain, MSN has integrated and transformed Proconco and ANCO’sanimal feed businesses into a single “FMCG-like” platform, resulting in 24.4trillion VND in sales last year.

With groundbreaking done for its 10,000-sow Nghe An pig farm and a strategicpartnership with Vissan, Masan has put in place key building blocks fordeveloping an integrated meat value chain.

This year, the net revenue of Masan Nutri-Science, a subsidiary of Masan Group,is expected to grow by 20-30 percent.

Masan has also developed a full-fledged branded food and beveragefranchise that has been delivering a steady stream of free cash flows for thepast three years.

Since developing market leading positions in key food categories such asseasonings and convenience foods, Masan has gone on to build a beveragebusiness.

Bottled beverage is now Masan’s fastest growing category, with 69 percentgrowth in non-alcoholic bottled beverages and 47 percent growth in beer in 2016.

Masan Resources has emerged as a globally significant tungsten producer,delivering profitability and more than 50 percent revenue growth last yeardespite a depressed commodity price environment.

This year Masan Resources is expected to grow net revenues by 22-27 percent andearnings by 37-164 percent depending on commodity prices.

♋ In 2017, Masan Consumer is hoped to contribute 60 percent of net sales andearnings, with Masan Nutri-Science and Masan Resources accounting for 30 percentand 10 percent.-VNA