PNJ Chair Cao Thị Ngọc Dung Defends Family Share Sales at Extraordinary AGM

Overview

Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ), listed on HOSE, held an extraordinary shareholder meeting at which Chairwoman Cao Thị Ngọc Dung defended repeated share sales by her family, saying the proceeds were needed to lend the company money for restructuring and to honour its product buyback policy. The meeting followed a trust crisis triggered by a diamond smuggling case involving a former director of PNJ’s P-Lab inspection unit, which pushed the company’s profit plan from a large gain into a heavy loss.

Key Facts

• More than 1,100 shareholders attended the extraordinary meeting, representing about 61.7% of voting shares.
• Chairwoman Cao Thị Ngọc Dung said her family sold PNJ shares to provide capital for the company to borrow, funding restructuring and product buyback commitments.
• CEO Phan Quốc Công said the volume of customers reselling products rose roughly 10 times normal levels.
• Buyback purchases alone reached close to VND 6,000 billion in July.
• The trust crisis stemmed from a July case involving a former director of PNJ’s P-Lab inspection company and a diamond smuggling ring.
• The company’s profit plan was revised from a large profit to a heavy loss, and management apologised to shareholders.
• PNJ closed at VND 19,000 on 21 October 2026, down 1.52% on volume of 13,827,700 shares.

What Happened

Speaking at the meeting in Hồ Chí Minh City, Cao Thị Ngọc Dung, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Công ty cổ phần Vàng bạc đá quý Phú Nhuận (PNJ), responded to a shareholder who asked why she and family members had repeatedly sold PNJ shares, pressuring the market price, and questioned the leadership’s long-term commitment. Dung said she sympathised with investors but insisted the sales existed only to raise money that the company could borrow for its rebuilding effort, adding that she would not have sold if a better option existed.

She described PNJ as her family’s single largest investment and said the share price decline had hurt her and her relatives financially, but that her priority was helping the company survive the crisis and keep its customer commitments on product exchange and buyback. Opening the meeting, Dung said she deeply understood shareholders’ worry and disappointment at the share price fall and the swing from a large profit plan to a heavy loss, and apologised for the damage to investment value and to trust in the company. CEO Phan Quốc Công said the wave of customers returning products ran about 10 times normal, with buybacks worth close to VND 6,000 billion in July alone. The figures were presented at the shareholder meeting; the article does not disclose the value of the family’s share sales.

Market Context

PNJ trades on HOSE and closed at VND 19,000 on 21 October 2026, down 1.52% on volume of 13,827,700 shares, a price level that reflects the de-rating since the July diamond case. The stock sits in the retail sector, where sentiment toward discretionary jewellery demand has weakened alongside the company-specific trust shock, and the meeting comes as Vietnamese equities broadly remain sensitive to consumer confidence and foreign flow. The article does not provide a year-to-date price comparison or a sector index reference.

Strategic Significance

The core issue for long-term holders is not the family’s selling but the funding model behind the buyback pledge: PNJ is effectively asking shareholders to accept insider sales as a liquidity bridge while the company absorbs a near VND 6,000 billion July buyback bill. If the buyback commitment restores customer trust and resale volumes normalise, the cost is a one-off balance-sheet hit; if it does not, PNJ faces a prolonged margin and inventory problem in a category where reputation is the primary asset. The chairwoman’s stated intention to remain engaged, in whatever role, is a governance signal but not a contractual guarantee.

What to Watch

• The company’s revised profit plan and any further revision at the next shareholder meeting.
• Monthly disclosure of buyback volumes and values, to see whether the resale wave has peaked.
• Insider and family ownership filings on the HOSE disclosure system.
• Any regulatory or judicial update on the diamond smuggling case and P-Lab.
• Q3 and Q4 2026 earnings, for evidence of gross margin recovery in the retail segment.