Vietnam’s first tech unicorn, VNG Group, posted a sharp improvement in second-quarter earnings, with net profit surging more than 30-fold year-on-year, as stronger monetisation across its gaming, instant messaging app Zalo, and fintech businesses, coupled with deeper AI adoption, boosted operating performance.
The UPCoM-listed technology company reported consolidated net revenue of 3.09 trillion dong ($118 million) for the quarter ended June, up 26% from a year earlier. Adjusted operating profit (AOP), which VNG uses as its core operating metric, rose 86% year on year to 467 billion dong ($17.7 million), while net profit after tax climbed to 467 billion dong from 15 billion dong in the same period last year.
The results come as VNG pursues three strategic priorities outlined at its 2026 annual general meeting: strengthening its core platforms, improving profitability through AI, and expanding overseas revenue.
“Q2’s financial results show that our focus is translating into measurable progress. Our core businesses grew stronger, driven by better execution and deeper AI adoption. We believe AI can materially shape VNG’s next phase of growth, and we are moving quickly to turn that potential into results,” said Kelly Wong, CEO of VNG Group.
Gaming remained VNG’s largest business, with bookings rising 22% year on year to 2.36 trillion dong, supported by nearly 62 million quarterly active users.
Meanwhile, Zalo and AI emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments. Revenue from the business climbed 63% year-on-year to 639 billion dong, while Zalo’s monthly active users reached 81.3 million.
The company said around 24 million users, or roughly one-third of Zalo’s monthly user base, used AI-enabled messaging and calling features each month.
Zalopay also continued to gain traction, with revenue jumping 90% year-on-year to 241 billion dong. Revenue from financial services surged 456%, while active users increased 39% and total payment volume grew 66%.
International business, AI infra
VNG continued expanding its international gaming business. Its international gaming bookings rose 11% year-on-year to 362 billion dong.
Its AI cloud unit, GreenNode, reported revenue of 144 billion dong, down 17% year-on-year as the company shifted away from lower-value traditional cloud services towards AI infrastructure.
Despite the revenue decline, higher-value segments recorded robust growth. AI Cloud revenue increased 271%, cloud services rose 40%, and banking and financial services solutions expanded 73%.
GreenNode, an official NVIDIA cloud partner, now serves more than 1,000 enterprise customers across Vietnam, Southeast Asia and the US.
During the quarter, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) to develop hybrid cloud infrastructure and an enterprise AI platform supporting the bank’s more than eight million retail customers.
VNG said the second-quarter performance keeps the company on track to meet its full-year guidance of 12.5-13.5 trillion dong ($481-519 million) in net revenue, representing 15-25% growth, while targeting its first full-year profit since its shares began trading on UPCoM.
