QCG Declares First Dividend in 8 Years as CEO Nguyễn Thị Như Loan Returns

Overview

Quốc Cường Gia Lai (HOSE: QCG) has approved a 10% bonus-share dividend for fiscal 2021, issuing more than 27.5 million shares, its first dividend in over eight years. The board’s decision follows the mid-October return of Nguyễn Thị Như Loan as CEO; she holds 37.05% of the company, roughly 102 million shares. The plan still requires written approval from the State Securities Commission before it can proceed.

Key Facts

• Dividend ratio: 10%, paid in shares rather than cash, for fiscal year 2021.
• Issuance volume: more than 27.5 million new shares.
• The plan was approved by shareholders in mid-2022 but has been delayed until now.
• At approval, QCG held VND 491 billion in undistributed after-tax profit and earmarked about VND 275 billion for the payout.
• Nguyễn Thị Như Loan returned as CEO in mid-October; she owns 37.05% of the company, about 102 million shares.
• After the issuance she would hold roughly 112 million shares, with her ownership percentage unchanged.
• The last dividend was in mid-2018, a final 2017 cash payout of 6.4%, or VND 640 per share.
• QCG closed at VND 10,500 on 4 November, up nearly 3% versus the reference price.

What Happened

In a board resolution, the Hội đồng quản trị of Công ty cổ phần Quốc Cường Gia Lai said it will issue shares to pay the 2021 dividend at a 10% ratio as soon as the Ủy ban Chứng khoán Nhà nước issues its written consent. The company expects to issue more than 27.5 million shares. Shareholders had approved the plan in mid-2022, when QCG reported VND 491 billion in undistributed after-tax profit and set aside about VND 275 billion for the dividend.

Management has repeatedly attributed the delay to cash-flow pressure at annual shareholder meetings. The company said it needed to retain undistributed earnings to fund real-estate projects, complete unfinished developments and service maturing debt during periods when working-capital borrowing was difficult. The restart comes less than a month after Nguyễn Thị Như Loan returned as Tổng giám đốc in mid-October. The last payout was in mid-2018, when QCG paid the final 2017 cash dividend of 6.4%, or VND 640 per share.

Market Context

QCG trades on HOSE and closed at VND 10,500 on 4 November, up nearly 3% against the reference price. The stock sits in the small-cap real-estate segment, where liquidity is thin and news flow around corporate governance and shareholder returns tends to move prices more than sector fundamentals. The dividend announcement lands as the broader Vietnamese property sector remains constrained by tight credit and slow project approvals, a backdrop that has weighed on small developers’ access to working capital.

Strategic Significance

The dividend matters less for its cash value, since it is paid in shares, than for what it signals about internal control. Nguyễn Thị Như Loan’s return as CEO and the immediate revival of a payout shelved since 2022 suggest a shift toward resolving legacy shareholder commitments. For long-term holders, the key question is whether the share issuance marks the start of a more predictable capital-return policy or a one-off gesture. The dilution is neutral in percentage terms for existing holders, but it adds shares to a thinly traded float while the company’s nine-month revenue of VND 107 billion remains far below its full-year target of VND 2,403 billion.

What to Watch

• Written approval from the Ủy ban Chứng khoán Nhà nước and the final issuance date.
• The ex-dividend and record dates, and any revision to the 10% ratio.
• Q4 and full-year 2026 earnings, particularly progress against the VND 2,403 billion revenue target.
• Disclosure of how the company funds project completion and debt service after the payout.
• Any further board changes or related-party transactions involving Nguyễn Thị Như Loan.