Egroup will prioritize debt repayment for elderly, sick or disadvantaged investors, starting from July.
The above information was announced by Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy - Chairman of Egroup, at the investor meeting on the evening of June 6. Mr. Thuy also reiterated many times that only when all debts are paid off, can Egroup develop.
Starting from July, Mr. Thuy said Egroup staff will proactively contact elderly, sick, or disadvantaged investors or those whose families are in difficult circumstances to come to the company to finalize their debts.
Both parties will determine the principal, interest on the contract, the debt incurred, and the amount previously paid. Depending on the actual financial potential, the company will consider which subjects will be paid first. Egroup refused to specify the number of investors expected to be eligible for this repayment, but only said that this will be the company's number one priority in the coming time.
For other investors, Mr. Thuy said that Egroup is determined to have two solutions. One is to wait for the debt to be paid according to the company's recovery roadmap, expected to take 3-4 years. The other is to consider swapping the debt with real estate, English courses, investment packages for "franchising" English centers, household appliances and other products that will be announced later.
During the debt settlement process, Mr. Thuy's company will also ask them to reduce past interest and consider stopping interest accruing in the future. "I ask investors, in a voluntary spirit, to share and unite so that the company can overcome difficulties," said the leader of this company.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy said he did not believe Egroup was in the current crisis.
An investor in Hanoi who has poured nearly VND1 billion into the Egroup ecosystem said he agrees with the plan to prioritize payments to people in difficult circumstances. However, he questioned the transparency of the approval process because the company did not provide clear criteria.
Another investor in Hanoi, although he thought he was eligible for early repayment, was still worried because his total investment was only over VND100 million. "I am a small investor, weak and isolated, afraid that the company will not care and will focus on paying off other people's debts first," he said.
During the recovery process, the company's management said it would seek additional financing from accessing investment funds, which could then swap debt with individual investors. According to Mr. Thuy, accessing funds began in 2019 but was interrupted due to the pandemic. "I believe that Egroup's ability to recover from the crisis will be very attractive to them," he shared.
Mr. Thuy said that investment funds are often more interested in the value and potential of a business than the story of how much debt the business is in. For education chains, valuation is often based on the formula EBITDA (earnings before tax, depreciation and interest) multiplied by a factor, usually 10-12 times EBITDA. However, funds will be concerned about the consensus and reaction of investors on the restructuring plan and the company needs time to convince them on this issue.
Currently, Mr. Thuy said the company has passed the most difficult period. Up to now, the core business of Apax Leaders/Apax English has opened another branch in Tu Son. According to the plan, next week this English teaching chain will open another branch in Kim Lien and then teaching locations in Ha Tinh, Linh Dam, Gardenia. After the important locations in the North are fully reopened, the company will focus on the Southern market.
"In the past, I often received a very difficult question to answer: Will Egroup be able to restore Apax's core business? At that time, I only dared to say that I would try my best, but now I am confident that the restructuring has been successful in the first phase and will continue in the future," said Mr. Thuy.
On the stock market, IBC shares of Apax Holdings Investment Joint Stock Company - the only listed subsidiary in the Egroup ecosystem, have been transferred from controlled to restricted trading since mid-May. The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) said the reason was that the company was 45 days late in submitting its 2022 audited financial statements.
Previously, Apax Holdings was also warned for late submission of its annual report. In addition, IBC has not yet announced its first quarter financial report. Since the beginning of the year, IBC's market price has decreased from VND3,600 to VND2,540 per unit at the end of the session on June 7.
In early April, this code had a price increase after Egroup announced the successful restructuring of Apax Leaders in the first phase, with an IBC session reaching VND3,100 per share. Since switching to restricted trading, the market price of this code has only hovered around VND2,500 per unit, however, liquidity has not decreased significantly compared to the beginning of the year.
Siddhartha
Source link
Comment (0)