On the evening of October 22 in Ho Chi Minh City, Khang Dien Investment and Trading House JSC (KDH) and VietinBank (CTG) signed a loan agreement for the Ma Lang and Cho Ga – Gao urban renovation project, with a total credit limit of nearly VND 13,500 billion. According to SGGP, VietinBank committed to disburse right after the signing ceremony.SGGP
For anyone holding KDH shares, this signature is one milestone in a longer chain. Khang Dien's cash starts going out next week. Cash coming back, under the published plan, arrives only after the works are handed over to the state, and mostly as land. This post walks through each milestone and marks which ones are cash out, which are cash in, and which still have no date.
From approval to groundbreaking
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Council approved the investment policy on June 19, as a public-private partnership under a build-transfer (BT) contract.Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ Under this structure, the investor funds the construction, transfers the asset to the state, and is then paid back.
In late June, Khang Dien sought written shareholder approval. The shareholder document put the preliminary total investment at nearly VND 16,369.5 billion, with about VND 10,734.7 billion to be settled in land and about VND 5,634.8 billion from the city budget if the land falls short.Báo Pháp luật On July 15, the city People's Committee approved Khang Dien as the implementing investor.Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ In August, the board approved setting up Khang Phuc An Investment Co., Ltd., with VND 2,500 billion in charter capital and 100% owned by KDH, to sign and carry out the BT contract.CafeF
Construction broke ground on August 29. The clearest commitment Khang Dien has made so far is its capital injection into the subsidiary. According to CafeF, the company raises all the funding itself, roughly 15% equity and 85% debt.CafeF Applied to the preliminary total, equity comes to about VND 2,455 billion and debt to about VND 13,900 billion. The limit just signed with VietinBank sits close to that figure.
October 22: where the cash starts going out
At the ceremony, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vice Chairman Hoang Nguyen Dinh said the city will start paying residents compensation from next week, an expected total of VND 10,800 billion. According to Mr. Dinh, the loan lets investor Khang Dien pay the compensation and secure the site early.VnExpress
The VND 10,800 billion splits very unevenly between the two areas. Ma Lang covers 6.8 hectares and affects about 1,042 cases, with more than VND 9,400 billion expected to be paid out, and residential land compensated at up to about VND 484 million per square meter. Cho Ga – Gao covers about 4,350 square meters and affects 238 households, with more than VND 1,400 billion expected, at up to more than VND 609 million per square meter.VnExpress
Side by side, expected compensation equals roughly 80% of the loan limit. In other words, most of the loan goes not into concrete but into residents' hands, right at the start of the project. Construction costs, per CafeF, are only about VND 2,900 billion of the preliminary total.CafeF
The October 22 reports do not give the interest rate, tenor, collateral, or a detailed disbursement schedule. VietinBank Chairman Tran Minh Binh said the lending is not driven by business profit.VnExpress For CTG shareholders, this is a large credit line for a social-welfare project, and the actual return will only show once the parties disclose the terms.
How big the loan is against KDH's balance sheet
The latest published financial statements are the 2026 half-year report. At June 30, Khang Dien's total borrowings were above VND 16,600 billion, up about 64% from the start of the year. Equity stood at VND 19,974 billion and cash and equivalents at VND 2,605 billion.Cafeland
Set against that balance sheet, a limit of nearly VND 13,500 billion equals about 81% of total borrowings and about 68% of end-June equity. If fully drawn, the company's debt would approach double its mid-year level.
The number looks less abrupt once the terms are read closely. This is a limit drawn as needed, not a lump sum paid in at once. The loan also runs through a dedicated project subsidiary, so consolidated reports in the coming quarters will show how much debt actually rises and under which line item. If the city pays compensation on schedule from next week, the Q4/2026 report will likely reflect a significant part of that money.
The other side matters too. Per the half-year report, KDH's operating cash flow was negative VND 1,480 billion in the first six months, and the company is covering it with borrowing.Cafeland The Ma Lang project does not change that picture in the short term: it adds a large outlay up front while bringing in no revenue yet.
After handover: what pays back, and when
Mr. Dinh said at the ceremony that no area in the project will be used for commercial purposes.VnExpress Ma Lang is planned to have about 1,400 social-housing apartments and 93 low-rise houses, and Cho Ga – Gao about 760 apartments, all for resettlement. Khang Dien therefore has no apartments to sell in either area.
Cash back to the company follows the BT contract. Under the plan as CafeF describes it, after completing the works and handing them over to the state, the investor is paid with offset land combined with the city budget.CafeF In the preliminary structure given to shareholders, land accounts for about VND 10,734.7 billion, roughly 66% of total investment. The budget portion of about VND 5,634.8 billion applies only if the land falls short.
On timing, the shareholder document says construction completes in Q4/2028 and operations begin in 2029.Báo Pháp luật Between the point cash starts going out (late October 2026) and the earliest point it can come back (after handover), the gap is more than two years. Throughout, the loan keeps accruing interest.
What is still unknown, and which documents will answer it
The most important milestone for KDH shareholders has no date yet: the decision to allocate the offset land. Published sources give the preliminary value of the land payment, but no document states the location, area, or formal handover date. The final value will also depend on valuation and settlement, not on the preliminary figure.
So the profit Khang Dien can book from this project cannot yet be calculated. If the land is worth more than the cost, the company earns a profit. If the budget has to cover a shortfall, the cash comes back later and depends on the city's spending plan.
These gaps will close one document at a time. KDH's Q3/2026 report will show borrowings and the capital injected into Khang Phuc An before the signing. The Q4/2026 report will likely be the first to show the VietinBank loan and compensation payments on the balance sheet. The city's land allocation decision is the document that answers where, how much, and when the cash comes back.
On the share price, KDH closed the October 22 session at VND 14,900, up 0.34%. The signing took place in the evening, after trading hours, so that session did not yet reflect the news.
In short, the Ma Lang story for KDH shareholders is a story about timing. Cash out has a schedule, starting next week. Cash back has a principle but no date. Until the land allocation decision appears, the nearly VND 13,500 billion loan is best read as a multi-year cost of capital, with the profit still unknown.