GC Food (GCF) Fined VND 425 Million by State Securities Commission

Overview

GC Food (UPCoM: GCF), a producer of aloe vera and coconut jelly products, has been fined a total of VND 425 million by the State Securities Commission Inspectorate under decision 619/QĐ-XPHC dated 19 October 2026. The penalties cover misstated after-tax profit in the Q2/2026 and Q4/2025 financial statements, incomplete corporate governance disclosures, and late disclosure of a VND 70 billion credit facility with BIDV. The case centres on the gap between preliminary quarterly figures and subsequently reviewed or audited numbers.

Key Facts

• Total administrative fine of VND 425 million imposed on Công ty cổ phần Thực phẩm G.C (GC Food) under decision 619/QĐ-XPHC, dated 19 October 2026.
• VND 175 million of the total relates to misstated after-tax profit disclosures in the separate and consolidated Q2/2026 and Q4/2025 financial statements.
• H1/2026 consolidated after-tax profit was published at approximately VND 51.32 billion but restated to approximately VND 31.83 billion in the reviewed interim report.
• H1/2026 separate after-tax profit moved from approximately VND 7.08 billion to approximately VND 6.14 billion after review.
• FY2025 consolidated after-tax profit was reported at approximately VND 98.54 billion in the Q4/2025 statement but fell to approximately VND 36.21 billion in the audited annual report; the separate figure moved from VND 104.81 billion to VND 77.59 billion.
• VND 65 million penalty for incomplete disclosure: the H1/2025 governance report and the 2024 and 2025 annual governance reports did not follow the template in Appendix V of Circular 96/2020/TT-BTC.
• VND 92.5 million penalty for late disclosure, including the 2026-2031 Board candidate list, an explanation of the H1/2026 profit variance, and the VND 70 billion credit facility with BIDV - Chi nhánh Ba Mươi Tháng Tư.

What Happened

The State Securities Commission Inspectorate issued the penalty after comparing GC Food’s periodic financial statements with the versions later reviewed by its auditor or audited for the full year. In the Q2/2026 separate statements, the company reported six-month after-tax profit of about VND 7.08 billion, while the reviewed interim separate statements showed about VND 6.14 billion. On a consolidated basis the gap was far wider: roughly VND 51.32 billion as first published against about VND 31.83 billion in the reviewed interim report.

The same pattern appears in the 2025 accounts. The Q4/2025 separate statement showed full-year after-tax profit of about VND 104.81 billion, against about VND 77.59 billion in the audited annual statements. Consolidated profit fell from about VND 98.54 billion to about VND 36.21 billion. Separately, the inspectorate found the company’s governance reports for H1/2025 and for 2024 and 2025 did not meet the content requirements of Circular 96/2020/TT-BTC, and that several items were disclosed late, including the list of Board candidates for the 2026-2031 term elected at the 2026 annual general meeting, an explanation of the H1/2026 profit variance, and the BIDV credit facility and its amendment agreements. The decision does not state whether the company has appealed.

Market Context

GCF trades on UPCoM, the exchange for unlisted public companies, where disclosure standards and liquidity are generally thinner than on HOSE or HNX. The stock closed at VND 17,100 on 20 October 2026, the session after the penalty decision was dated. The company sits in the consumer staples segment, exporting aloe vera and coconut jelly products, a niche where earnings are exposed to raw-material input costs and export demand. The size of the restatements, particularly the roughly VND 62 billion reduction in FY2025 consolidated profit, is large relative to the company’s reported earnings base and points to weaknesses in internal accounting controls rather than a routine timing difference.

Strategic Significance

For long-term holders, the central issue is not the VND 425 million fine, which is small in absolute terms, but the reliability of GCF’s reported earnings. A consolidated FY2025 profit cut of that scale between the quarterly and audited statements means investors who valued the stock on preliminary numbers were working from materially overstated figures. On UPCoM, where analyst coverage is limited and audited reports arrive well after quarterly releases, this raises the discount investors should apply to unaudited results. The governance and late-disclosure findings also bear on the 2026-2031 Board transition, since the candidate list was published behind schedule. Remediation of internal controls and the audit relationship will matter more to the equity story than the fine itself.

What to Watch

• The company’s next periodic disclosure, including whether it confirms payment of the VND 425 million fine and any remedial measures on financial reporting controls.
• The Q3/2026 financial statements, and whether preliminary figures converge with subsequently reviewed numbers.
• Any filing on the 2026-2031 Board composition following the annual general meeting.
• Further detail on the VND 70 billion BIDV facility and its role in funding working capital or expansion.
• Whether the State Securities Commission opens any additional review of the restated 2025 and H1/2026 accounts.