SJ Group (SJS) has just filed its Q3/2026 consolidated financial statements, showing net profit of VND 1,012 billion. The same filing shows that short-term customer prepayments for the Nam An Khanh project stood at only about VND 13.4 billion on September 30, down from nearly VND 679 billion at the start of the year. Read alone, the profit figure looks like a record quarter. Read next to the prepayment balance, it shows that much of the quarter's revenue had been "booked in advance" in earlier periods, which leaves the question of where new revenue will come from.
One quarter carries most of the year's profit
According to the Q3/2026 consolidated statements, SJ Group posted net revenue of VND 1,785 billion, 67 times the same period last year. Real estate transfers contributed more than VND 1,760 billion, nearly all of it, with services making up the rest.Tin nhanh Chứng khoán
Cost of goods sold was only about VND 499 billion, so gross profit came to roughly VND 1,286 billion.CafeF The gross margin rose to 72%, from about 26% a year earlier.Tạp chí Kinh tế Tài chính Pre-tax profit exceeded VND 1,265 billion and net profit reached VND 1,012 billion, 322 and 327 times the Q3/2025 levels respectively.Tin nhanh Chứng khoán
In its explanatory note, the company said profit rose because it continued to sell the Nam An Khanh project during the quarter.CafeF The filing does not say which sub-zones were involved or how many units were handed over.
For the first nine months, net revenue was VND 2,543 billion, up 586%. Net profit was VND 1,432 billion, up 720%, and already about 20% above the full-year plan.Tin nhanh Chứng khoán Subtract Q3's VND 1,012 billion and the first half contributed only about VND 420 billion. Q3 alone therefore produced roughly 70% of the nine-month profit.
Why Q3 last year earned only about VND 3 billion
"327 times" sounds enormous partly because the base is so low. With Q3/2026 profit at VND 1,012 billion, SJ Group earned only about VND 3 billion in Q3/2025, and gross profit that quarter was just under VND 7 billion.Tin nhanh Chứng khoán
A gap of more than 300 times does not mean the company performed 300 times better. Its results are better read project handover by project handover than as a steady growth line. A housing developer books revenue only when it hands over the home or land to the buyer, not when the contract is signed or the cash arrives. In a quarter with a large handover, revenue and profit pile up. In a quarter without one, the income statement is nearly empty, even though sites keep running and cash may still be coming in.
Customer prepayments: from nearly VND 679 billion to about VND 13.4 billion
This is the number most worth reading closely on the balance sheet. At September 30, 2026, short-term prepayments from buyers tied to Nam An Khanh stood at nearly VND 13.4 billion,CafeF down from nearly VND 679 billion at the start of the year.Tin nhanh Chứng khoán
The balance is money customers have paid for units not yet delivered. It sits under liabilities because the company still "owes" the buyer a house or a plot. On handover it converts into revenue. The sharp drop suggests most of the units customers had prepaid for were delivered over the past nine months.
The decline of about VND 665 billion equals roughly a quarter of nine-month revenue. The rest of the revenue most likely came from payments made at handover or during the year. Cash flow is consistent with this reading: operating cash flow for the nine months turned positive at more than VND 365 billion, against a negative figure of nearly VND 36 billion a year earlier.Tạp chí Kinh tế Tài chính The cash has actually arrived, not just profit on paper.
What does a VND 13.4 billion balance say about the next quarter? At the start of the year, nearly VND 679 billion of prepayments was a fairly clear revenue queue: hand over, and it can be booked. By the end of Q3, that queue is almost gone from the books. Revenue in coming quarters will have to come from newly sold units that are then delivered. This is a reading based on the net balance. The filing does not disclose contracts signed but not yet paid, so some transactions may not yet show up in this line.
What is left in inventory: nearly VND 4,001 billion in work in progress
At September 30, 2026, inventory stood at nearly VND 4,769 billion net of provisions, of which work-in-progress costs at Nam An Khanh made up nearly VND 4,001 billion. Total assets were nearly VND 8,656 billion, so one project's work in progress alone accounts for almost half.Tin nhanh Chứng khoán
Work in progress is the land, infrastructure and construction spending on parts of the project not yet sold or delivered. It becomes revenue only once units are sold and handed over. The VND 4,001 billion is therefore inventory for future quarters, not revenue already secured.
Nam An Khanh sits in An Khanh and An Thuong communes, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi, with 288.8 hectares of land use, of which 189.7 hectares are zoned for the new urban area.CafeF Recent public sources give no specific launch date, remaining unit count or expected pricing for the next sales round. That is the biggest gap in estimating profit for the coming quarters.
A lighter balance sheet after the handover
The handover did more than lift profit. At September 30, 2026, SJ Group's total borrowings and finance leases were VND 1,482 billion, down 41% from the start of the year. Liabilities fell 14% to VND 3,785 billion, while equity rose 41% to VND 4,871 billion on retained earnings.CafeF
How the market reacted
SJS closed at VND 53,700 on October 15, up the 6.97% daily limit. On October 16 it rose another 6.33% to VND 57,100, with about 156,800 shares traded. That is thin liquidity, so the price can move sharply on a modest volume of orders.
There are several ways to explain the two gains. The most visible is the large profit and the fact that nine-month earnings already exceed the annual plan. The available data leans toward the market reacting to the Q3 results, but it is not enough to separate the contribution of each factor. Two sessions of price action also cannot say whether this profit will repeat.
What to watch next
SJ Group is a company whose profit follows the handover rhythm of one main project. Q3 shows that Nam An Khanh delivered a large volume of units, enough to push profit past the annual plan after only nine months. Whether Q4 repeats it is something the current filing does not tell us.
A prepayment balance of about VND 13.4 billion signals that the revenue "booked in advance" in earlier periods has largely been recognized. The nearly VND 4,001 billion of work in progress is the remaining supply, but it turns into revenue only with new sales and new handovers.
The Q4/2026 financial statements will be the first test. If customer prepayments rise again, that points to a new sales round and deposits coming in, paving the way for 2027 revenue. If the balance stays low and Q4 revenue is small, profit will return to waiting for the next handover. The second marker is official launch information for the remaining sub-zones: timing, scale and pricing will decide whether the nearly VND 4,001 billion of work in progress converts into revenue quickly or slowly.