Trailing net profit reached 106.4bn, rose 112.6bn compared with the previous quarter. Key positives came from lower finance costs, higher gross profit, better other profit, and higher associates income. Offsetting pressure came mainly from lower financial income and higher minority interests. Detailed impact is shown below:

Is growth real and durable?

Trailing-12-month revenue grew 7.5% year on year — not from a single spike: quarterly growth stepped up from −2% to +15%.

2 of the last 3 quarters grew year on year.

Net margin fell to 13.88%, losing 12.9pp. Gross margin rose 3.4pp and SG&A / Revenue fell 1.4pp improved but not enough to offset the weakness in Net financial result / Revenue fell 25.5pp and Other profit / Revenue fell 0.7pp.

Margin is under pressure from multiple sides — temporary and structural components need to be separated to properly assess the risk.

Is profit converting into cash?

With leverage safe, cash flow shows the self-funding capacity. Operating cash flow reached 1,207.0bn against investing cash flow of -894.6bn (annual cash-flow figures for 2024).

Post-investment cash flow was positive +312.4bn. Financing cash flow was negative +415.2bn.

CFO / net income was 4,48 lần.

After spending +45.0bn on fixed-asset investment, the business generated trailing free cash flow of +431.1bn.

For utilities, high capex and long investment cycles are structural — short-term FCF volatility does not reflect long-term cash generation through regulated pricing.

How much income is non-core?

Non-core income makes up 10.2% of pre-tax profit — worth monitoring.

Within that, net financial result at −192.7%, other profit at +10.2% of PBT.

ROIC currently stands at 1.31%. Track NOPAT margin and capital turnover to assess capital efficiency.

For utilities, ROIC reflects returns on a large fixed-asset base — this is a reference signal and should be read alongside regulated tariffs.

Track receivable, inventory, and payable turns to judge working-capital efficiency.

Track DSO, DIO, DPO components to evaluate working capital turnover efficiency.

For utilities, working capital cycle reflects regulated pricing mechanics and long-term settlement contracts — DSO/DIO/DPO should be treated as contextual signals rather than pure efficiency indicators.

Leverage warrants monitoring, with net debt / equity at 0.73x and interest coverage only at 0.38x.

At present, short-term debt accounts for 22.5% of total debt, cash equals 2.0% of debt, and total debt stands at 6,737.4bn.

Leverage for utilities reflects long-term capital needs for fixed assets and recovery through regulated pricing — elevated leverage is structural to the industry.

ROIC for utilities reflects a large fixed-asset base and regulated tariffs. Capital structure is balanced — liabilities at 0.92x equity, net debt at 0.73x equity.

None

Over the last 12 months, working capital absorbed 463.6bn of cash, mainly because of higher receivables and higher inventories. Part of that drag was offset by higher payables.