Mobile World debuted shares in July 2014 and its price climbed almost 34 per cent in less than one year from VND81,500 to nearly VND110,000. — Photo doisongphapluat

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Nguyen Duc Tai, chairman and CEO of Mobile World Investment Co (MWG), is reported to have received 387,700 shares in the company under its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), worth around VND42.3 billion (US$2 million).

Tai directly owns 2.67 million MWG shares and has indirect ownership of 15.45 million shares through Retail World Investment Consultant LLC. With the current price of nearly VND110,000 ($5.14) a share, Tai is 7th on the list of the richest people in the Vietnamese stock market.

Mobile World last month issued 5.33 million ESOP shares to nearly 600 employees. The issuance, extracted from its after-tax profit, is a bonus for the company's staff thanks to its positive performance last year.

However, the shares will be restricted from transferring from December 10, 2014 to December 10, 2015. Shareholders can sell 50 per cent of ESOP shares from November 12, 2015 to December 12, 2016. From December 13, 2016 onwards, the shares will be freely transferable.

2014 was a good year for the mobile phone retailer, with estimated revenues of VND15.5 trillion ($752 million) and after-tax profits of VND670 billion ($32 million). The figures mark year-on-year increases of 66 per cent and 159 per cent, respectively.

The company opened 350 new thegioididong.com and dienmay.com outlets last year. Online sales of these two sites were around VND1 trillion ($46.7 million) last year and are expected to double this year. CEO Tai said the company would strive to reach this year's turnover target of $1 billion.

Mobile World debuted shares in July 2014 and its price climbed almost 34 per cent in less than one year from VND81,500 to nearly VND110,000. — VNS