We attended MWG’s AGM on April 8, during which discussion mainly focused on grocery chain Bach Hoa Xanh’s (BHX) update and outlook in 2023. Our key takeaways are as follows. 

Mr. Pham Van Trong — BHX’s Director of Operations since 2019 — was appointed as BHX’s acting CEO. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and information systems from the University of Science, HCMC. He joined MWG in 2004 as an IT manager and then became head of IT before joining BHX in 2019. Chairman Nguyen Duc Tai will continue supervising BHX’s management moving forward. 

Fresh food is BHX’s key focus in 2023. BHX aims to (1) perfect its fresh food offerings in terms of price and quantity to achieve optimal traffic, (2) optimize its supply chain — especially for fresh food — and (3) reach bottom-line breakeven in December 2023 at the latest. Management regards fresh food as traffic driver and FMCGs as profit driver for BHX. Although BHX is continuing to focus on optimizing its logistics system, management sees larger room for improvement in sales/store, which is a key factor for BHX to break even. Management expects a potential expansion of 150-200 BHX sqm stores in H2 2023 at the earliest. New stores are expected in BHX’s current coverage area (88% of its existing stores are in the South, and the rest are in some provinces in the South-Central Coast and Central Highlands) to avoid new distribution center investments. BHX will consider expansion in central and northern Vietnam after the chain contributes profit to MWG.

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