Garmex Saigon (GMC) Q3 Loss Widens to VND 24.7B as Garment Output Stays Shut

Overview

Garmex Sài Gòn (GMC), the 50-year-old Hồ Chí Minh City garment maker listed on UPCOM, reported a Q3 net loss of nearly VND 24.7 billion, 3.8 times the year-earlier loss and its heaviest quarterly loss in more than three years. The company has not restarted apparel production since May 2023, and revenue from leasing pickleball courts is not enough to cover fixed costs, including a retroactive land-rent charge. The result underscores how far GMC has fallen from its 2012-2021 peak, when revenue ran into the trillions of dong.

Key Facts

• Q3 net loss of nearly VND 24.7 billion, 3.8x the same quarter last year and the largest since Q1 2023.
• Q3 net revenue of about VND 636 million, up more than 40% year on year, sourced mainly from a pickleball court leasing cooperation rather than garment sales.
• Additional land rent of more than VND 17.5 billion for the 1996-2025 period was assessed by the Hồ Chí Minh City tax authority; GMC paid over VND 15 billion of that at the end of June.
• Apparel production has been suspended since May 2023; headcount fell from roughly 4,000 at the peak to 26 as of the end of September.
• Finished-goods inventory stands at nearly VND 86 billion, against a provision for inventory devaluation of close to VND 15 billion.
• GMC previously operated five factories in Hồ Chí Minh City and Đà Nẵng with more than 70 production lines.
• The company has not disclosed a specific timeline for resuming garment manufacturing.

What Happened

According to the consolidated financial statements cited in the report, Garmex Sài Gòn’s third-quarter net revenue rose more than 40% year on year to nearly VND 636 million, but the money came mainly from a business cooperation arrangement to lease pickleball courts rather than from its core garment operations. The company said it has still not resumed apparel production, and that it must keep warehouse and indirect administrative staff on payroll. Fixed costs such as depreciation, land rent, environmental fees and security services left revenue short of expenses.

A large part of the pressure came from selling and administrative expenses after the Hồ Chí Minh City tax authority notified GMC of additional land rent for 1996-2025, totaling more than VND 17.5 billion, of which the company paid over VND 15 billion at the end of June. Financial income also fell as deposit interest and foreign-exchange gains declined, while lower securities write-downs trimmed financial costs but not enough to offset other items. GMC said it continues to offer unused assets for sale, though results so far are immaterial. Management’s stated remedies are further cost cuts, liquidation of idle assets, pressing fabric suppliers to deliver, and monitoring the Phú Mỹ residential project to sell units and recover invested capital; it is also studying new business lines and looking to monetize existing premises.

Market Context

GMC trades on UPCOM, the unlisted public company market, and last closed at VND 4,300 on 22 October 2026, a level consistent with a stock that has priced in a prolonged operating shutdown. The wider Vietnamese textile and garment sector has been recovering on improved orders from the US and EU, but GMC’s exposure is idiosyncratic: it lost its anchor volume when Amazon cut orders through partner Gilimex at the end of 2022, and it has not rebuilt an order book since. The company’s market profile is now driven by asset-sale and land-use news rather than by apparel export cycles.

Strategic Significance

The core thesis for GMC is no longer garment manufacturing but balance-sheet recovery: whether asset liquidation, the Phú Mỹ residential project and leasing income can cover fixed costs before cash reserves erode further. The retroactive land-rent charge is a policy risk that applies to other state-origin industrial landholders in Hồ Chí Minh City, and it shows how legacy land obligations can surface years later and hit a company with almost no operating revenue. With only 26 employees and no stated restart date, GMC is effectively an asset-monetization story, and its value depends on the realizable value of land, inventory and the residential stake rather than on any recovery in sewing orders.

What to Watch

• The Q4 financial statements for any sign of resumed garment production or a concrete restart date.
• Progress on asset sales and liquidation of unused machinery and premises, with disclosed transaction values.
• Updates on the Phú Mỹ residential project, including sales launches or capital recovery.
• Any further tax authority assessments or adjustments to the 1996-2025 land-rent charge.
• Inventory provisioning trends against the nearly VND 86 billion of finished goods on the books.