Ministry warns about inefficiency at State-owned Licogi

A Licogi building. The Ministry of Finance urged measures to improve efficiency at Licogi. - Photo vnexpress.netHÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance has urged measures to improve the efficiency of State capital at the Construction and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Licogi).The finance ministry’s report said that the company was operating inefficiently with revenues declining significantly in the past two years.Statistics showed that Licogi reported revenue of more than VNĐ 二. 七 trillion (US$ 一 一 五 million) in  二0 一 七, a drop of seven per cent against  二0 一 六, largely blamed on its real estate business. It reported losses of VNĐ 五 八. 七 billion.In the first six months of  二0 一 八, revenue reached VNĐ 一. 三 trillion,  三 五 per cent lower than the same period of  二0 一 七. It reported a modest sum of pre-tax profit of VNĐ 九. 八 billion in the period. Licogi’s return on assets was low, at 0.0 八 per cent. The finance ministry said that Licogi failed to preserve the value of State capital, urging the Ministry of Construction who was previously in charge of managing State capital at Licogi to report causes for loss-making results and raise solutions to improve the company’s operation. Licogi was also found to have struggled in paying debts because its short-term assets were mainly receivables and inventories which accounted for more than  九0 per cent. As of the end of  二0 一 七, its short-term debt total exceeded its short-term assets by VNĐ 一. 二 trillion. As the solvency of Licogi was heavily dependent on inventories and receivables, the finance ministry said that it was necessary to speed up reducing inventories and collecting receivables. The Ministry of Construction in December transferred the State capital ownership representative rights to the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC). Accordingly, more than  三 六. 六 million shares of Licogi, or  四0. 七 per cent of Licogi’s charter capital, were handed over to the SCIC. — VNS