Vietnamese technology group VNG has set its first full-year profit target since listing on the UPCoM exchange in 2023, betting on stronger performance across its gaming, messaging, payments, and AI businesses to sustain growth momentum.
At its annual general meeting, shareholders approved a 2026 business plan targeting a net revenue of 12.5-13.5 trillion dong, representing year-on-year growth of 15-25%. The company also expects a pre-tax profit of 300-450 billion dong and adjusted operating profit (AOP) growth of 15-30%.
The targets build on a strong start to the year. In the first quarter of 2026, VNG reported revenue of 2.785 trillion dong, up 32% from a year earlier, while AOP surged 154% to 470 billion dong. The company also posted a net profit for the quarter.
The positive outlook follows a milestone year in 2025, when VNG recorded its first positive operating profit since its shares began trading on the stock market.
After years of investment, the group’s operating result swung from a loss of 286 billion dong to a profit of 57 billion dong. Operating margins expanded from 3% to 8% on a consolidated revenue of 10.894 trillion dong, which rose 17% year-on-year.
The company also contributed 1.392 trillion dong to the state budget, up 25% from the previous year, placing it among Vietnam’s 30 largest private-sector taxpayers.
Speaking to shareholders, founder and chairman Le Hong Minh said all of VNG’s core businesses delivered solid growth during the year. VNGGames maintained a 13% growth rate despite operating in an increasingly competitive market.
Building a digital ecosystem for the AI era
VNG is positioning itself around a broader digital ecosystem spanning communications, payments, entertainment, and AI infrastructure.
“From the very beginning, VNG has remained committed to the directions we believe are right over a sufficiently long period of time,” Minh told shareholders.
“The digital ecosystem we have built—including connectivity platforms, payments, entertainment, and AI infrastructure—is something that very few companies in Southeast Asia possess. That is why we are confident entering the AI era, a wave that will have a far greater impact than any previous technological shift.”
Zalo remains the cornerstone of that ecosystem. The messaging platform reached nearly 80 million monthly active users in 2025 and generated more than 1.7 trillion dong in revenue, up 38% year-on-year. For the first time, non-advertising revenue exceeded advertising revenue.
The number of business accounts on Zalo (Zalo OA) grew more than 50%, reflecting the company’s ambition to transform the platform from a personal messaging app into a channel connecting users with businesses and brands.
AI is expected to play a key role in that transformation. VNG aims for 30% of users to adopt AI-powered features integrated into its platforms. Many users are already engaging with AI capabilities such as message summarisation and AI-generated avatars, often without consciously recognising them as AI products.
Meanwhile, digital payments platform ZaloPay surpassed 1 trillion dong in revenue in 2025, up 47%, while revenue from financial services jumped 413%.
According to Minh, ZaloPay is targeting breakeven in 2026 and profitability in 2027. “ZaloPay is now one of VNG’s key growth engines, and we remain confident in its ability to achieve these long-term financial targets,” he said.
In gaming, VNGGames is shifting from expansion to deeper monetisation, prioritising quality over quantity, and focusing on evergreen titles, which now contribute 46% of segment revenue. International revenue accounts for nearly 20% of total bookings, with ZingPlay recording 68% growth.
Another pillar of VNG’s AI strategy is GreenNode, the group’s AI cloud infrastructure business. Operating in both Vietnam and Bangkok, GreenNode serves more than 1,000 enterprise customers across Southeast Asia, the US, and the Middle East. International markets contribute 68% of its total revenue.
“Over the past 12-18 months, we have witnessed an explosion in generative AI tools and foundation models, which are also key areas of investment for us… Going forward, GreenNode will continue to expand its operations. We have made significant investments in technology infrastructure and will further develop higher-layer capabilities, including AI platforms and enterprise-grade AI applications designed to address real-world business needs,” said Kelly Wong, CEO, VNG.
According to Minh, VNG’s strategy in the AI era is not to build products for a specific customer segment, but to develop a broad digital ecosystem connecting users, partners, and enterprises. The company views ecosystem-building as the guiding principle for all of its businesses in the years ahead.
Low liquidity continues to weigh on VNZ shares
Despite improving business fundamentals, VNG’s stock performance has yet to reflect the company’s growth ambitions.
VNG currently has around 30 million shares trading on the UPCoM exchange, but liquidity remains extremely limited. Average daily trading volume over the past 10 sessions was fewer than 1,000 shares.
The stock closed the week at 317,000 dong per share, down about 13% from the beginning of the year and significantly below the record high of nearly 1.5 million dong reached shortly after listing.
Responding to shareholder concerns, Minh argued that the current share price does not fully reflect the company’s intrinsic value.
One reason, he said, is the persistent lack of liquidity. VNG did not issue additional shares when it listed in 2023, leaving the shareholder base dominated by institutional investors and long-serving employees who received shares through employee stock ownership plans.
“When the price falls, these shareholders do not want to sell, which results in low liquidity. And when liquidity is low, it becomes even harder to attract new investors,” Minh said.
As VNG enters a new growth phase centred on artificial intelligence, investors will be watching whether the company can translate operational improvements into stronger market liquidity and a re-rating of its shares.
