Dear valued Shareholders, Customers, Partners, and all Employees,
The pressures of Covid-19 continuously muted the impact of business activities worldwide in 2021, specifically in Vietnam. However, while the pandemic caused economic disruption in different ways, especially as many localities in critical economic regions had to implement prolonged social distancing measures in the third quarter of 2021, FPT still had the good fortune to find unique growth opportunities within this context.
According to a survey conducted by VnExpress, approximately 62% of employees lost their jobs and 85% of businesses closed or temporarily ceased operating. Millions of children were not able to attend school. Millions of people ran out of money to pay for food and accommodation. It was a life-and-death struggle for so many. Therefore, as a leading technology firm, on the 33rd birthday of the Corporation (September 13th, 2021), I called on FPT employees to be ready with a spirit of "Rebirth". Each member of staff should actively find their place and choose their way to contribute towards the fight against Covid-19 to protect our people and business.
With the support of the Government and provincial leaders across the country, last year, FPT promoted high-level exchanges with the leadership of more than 40 provinces. We also signed cooperation agreements on digital transformation with 14 localities and raised awareness of digital transformation to nearly 20,000 local leaders at all levels. In addition, we organised dozens of executive-level meetings with the country's leading private enterprises in critical economic sectors.
With the best efforts of all leaders and employees of the Corporation, 2021 profit before tax increased impressively at 20.4%. The pre-tax profit of the Technology sector contributed the most (44%), followed by the Telecommunications sector (38%). Earnings of the Education, Investment and other sectors accounted for 18%.
In IT services for foreign markets, all markets witnessed incredible revenue growth. The most significant contribution came from the US market (52%), followed by the Asia Pacific region (27%). More than 50% of the total revenue of digital transformation services was derived from Cloud computing. Especially in 2021, FPT gained more trust from large customers, securing 19 contracts worth more than 5 million USD per deal, doubling in value when compared to 2020.
In IT services for the domestic market, revenue and profit grew by 29% and 33.9%, respectively YoY. In particular, in 2021, under the complicated circumstances that heavily affected the private sector and nationwide localities, FPT promptly launched the FPT eCovax solution suite as a technology "vaccine" for businesses and organisation. Moreover, it showed our agility and flexibility in responding to a global crisis.
In the telecommunications sector, the number of broadband customers increased by nearly 16%. Especially, the number of PayTV subscribers increased by almost 21%, illustrating the customers' higher demand while working, learning, and entertaining themselves from home during lockdown. Furthermore, the pre-tax profit margin of the Telecommunications sector continued to improve by 4.8% (from 16.7% to 17.5%) thanks to our efforts in increasing business efficiency, saving costs, and optimising governance.
In the field of Education, FPT Education continuously affirmed its position as the largest private educational institution in Vietnam. Specifically, the enrolment rate increased by 43%; the total number of full-time equivalent students at all levels reached nearly 74,313 students.
In addition, when the Southern region suffered heavy losses due to Covid-19, FPT implemented a social charity project with the goal of intending to nurture children deprived of parental care due to Covid-19 in FPT City Da Nang.
Entering 2022, with the positive growth rate forecast of global digital transformation at 16% (reaching 2.4 trillion VND in 2024) and the doubled requirements of Cloud computing technology in the next three years, FPT expects a 20.2% growth in pre-tax profit, reaching 7,618 billion VND.
The growth strategy for 2022 continues to be on the basis of data-driven operations, the customer-centric motto, and breakthrough technology solutions. FPT will deploy a series of innovative start-ups with our young talents. Some of which will be promoted at the Corporation level, focusing on four core areas: Eating (food issues), Learning (education issues), Working (job issues), and Well-being (healthcare issues). Those projects are expected to spur significant advancement as the economy enters the adaptive phase in the new normal. Some other key areas and solutions include Robotic process automation (akaBot), Smart City (a new trend of localities), FPT eCovax (the technology 'vaccine' solution suite for businesses and organisations), the virtual meeting solution (OnMeeting), Pay TV (FPT Play), and the Cloud computing technology using Artificial Intelligence (FPT Cloud).
FPT's message for 2022 is "Determined to fight": being strong-willed to stand and fight for fundamental values for each individual and family; maintaining the first position in critical domestic projects; making a drastic breakthrough globally and increasing the determination to progress in digital transformation.
Never have we been more confident of our younger, highly specialized and dedicated workforce and our responsive business strategies, along with beneficial public policies, strong support from local leaders and leading private partners. I firmly believe FPT will have a vigorous year ahead, scaling ever higher heights to achieve new areas of success .
Looking back at the past year, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the entire team for their unremitting efforts and dedication. In addition, let me extend my appreciation to all of our esteemed shareholders, customers, and partners. May this year bring you an abundance of joy, health, and victory!
Chairman's BOD
TRUONG GIA BINH