The board of Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk, HOSE: VNM) has approved a first-instalment 2026 cash dividend of 25%, or VND 2,500 per share. The record date is November 12, 2026, and payment follows on November 26, 2026. With almost 2.09 billion shares outstanding, the total payout comes to about VND 5,225 billion.Vietstock
If you hold VNM, this payout moves through four dates, and your account changes differently at each one. This post follows them in order. At the end it steps back to ask what the payout says about how Vinamilk distributes profit, given that the first instalment alone is already larger than the full-year dividend floor the company set for itself.
Date 1: Nov 10, the last session in which buying still qualifies
According to the events calendar published on October 28, the ex-dividend date is November 11, 2026.Tin nhanh chứng khoán That is the first session in which a buyer no longer receives the dividend. So the Tuesday, November 10 session is the last one in which you can buy VNM and still be on the dividend list.
The reason is T+2 settlement. Shares bought on November 10 arrive in your account on November 12, the record date itself, so the buyer makes the list. Shares bought from November 11 arrive after the cut-off, and the right to this dividend stays with the seller.
The reverse also holds. The list is fixed on whoever owns the shares on November 12, meaning people who already held them before the November 11 session. So if you already hold VNM, you can sell from November 11 and still collect the full dividend.
Date 2: Nov 11, the reference price drops by the dividend
On the morning of November 11, VNM's reference price will no longer equal the November 10 close. For cash dividends, the reference price is the previous close minus the dividend per share,DSC here VND 2,500.
As an illustration, take the October 29 close of VND 57,700. If the November 10 session closed at the same level, the November 11 reference price would be VND 55,200. This is only an illustrative calculation: the actual reference price depends on the November 10 close, and trades during the session can print above or below it.
In your brokerage app, someone holding 1,000 shares will see the value of the position fall by about VND 2.5 million at the open. That money is not lost. It becomes a pending dividend, usually shown under entitlements or cash receivable. Your total account value (shares plus the pending amount) is roughly unchanged from the close on November 10. The only amount that actually leaves your pocket is the tax in Date 4.
This is also why "buying before the record date to capture the dividend" is not free money. A buyer on November 10 pays a price that already includes the dividend, and that amount is then handed back as cash, minus tax.
Date 3: Nov 12, the record date
November 12 is the record date. The shareholder list is fixed according to how many shares each person owns on this day. You do not have to do anything: the money goes automatically to the brokerage account where the shares are held.
Date 4: Nov 26, cash arrives after tax
A cash dividend counts as an individual's investment income. Under Personal Income Tax Law 109/2025/QH15, effective July 1, 2026, the rate on this kind of income remains 5%, applied to the full dividend, and the tax is withheld before the money reaches your account.At VND 2,500 per share, the arithmetic is:
| Item | Per share | 1,000 shares |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend before tax | VND 2,500 | VND 2,500,000 |
| Personal income tax 5% | VND 125 | VND 125,000 |
| Net received | VND 2,375 | VND 2,375,000 |
Against the October 29 close of VND 57,700, this payout alone is worth about 4.3% of the share price before tax. That figure measures a single payment, not the full-year dividend yield.
Where the VND 5,225 billion goes
With more than VND 5,000 billion going out, the natural question is who receives it. State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) owns 36% and receives about VND 1,881 billion. Singapore's Fraser & Neave (F&N) is the second-largest holder with 24.99% after buying another 96 million shares from Jardine Cycle & Carriage in late 2025, and is estimated to receive about VND 1,306 billion.Vietstock
The remaining roughly VND 2,038 billion (VND 5,225 billion minus the two amounts above) goes to just over 39% of the shares held by funds, other foreign investors and domestic individuals. For this group, the cash is proportional to the number of shares held, regardless of the price you paid.
What the payout says about how Vinamilk distributes profit
The 25% rate matches the first advance payment of fiscal 2025 exactly. That year Vinamilk advanced 25% in October 2025, paying VND 5,224 billion, then paid the final 18.5% in July 2026, bringing the 2025 total to 43.5%, or VND 4,350 per share.Vietstock
Against the 2026 plan, this advance is larger than the floor the company set itself. The 2026 AGM resolution targets net profit of VND 9,828 billion and a minimum dividend of 50% of planned consolidated net profit, or about VND 4,914 billion. The VND 5,225 billion of the first instalment alone is roughly 53% of planned full-year profit, so it clears the floor at the very first payment.Vietstock
The company has the earnings base for this payout. In the first half of 2026, Vinamilk reported net revenue of almost VND 34,996 billion, up nearly 18% year on year. Net profit was over VND 5,642 billion, up more than 38% and equal to 57% of the full-year plan. In the second quarter alone, net profit was over VND 3,184 billion, up 28%. At June 30, 2026, consolidated undistributed after-tax profit was nearly VND 9,793 billion, after recording almost VND 3,875 billion of dividends payable.Vietstock In other words, the VND 5,225 billion is paid out of profit already accumulated, not out of expected second-half profit.
On sources of growth, at its August 2026 investor meeting management said domestic growth in the first half was 12.4%, driven mainly by volume and product mix, with no price increases factored in.Vietstock
The payout also fits what management has said. According to Vietstock, Vinamilk distributes nearly all of its after-tax profit as dividends and has not considered paying stock dividends. At the same August meeting, management set a goal of keeping the 2026 shareholder payout in line with 2025 and said there is no plan for share buybacks.Vietstock For someone who wants steady, predictable income, that is the notable feature of this stock.
What to watch after Nov 26
The schedule for this payout is settled: hold through the November 10 session to be on the list, the reference price is cut by VND 2,500 on November 11, and VND 2,375 per share reaches your account on November 26.
The rest of the 2026 dividend will be decided once full-year profit is known. If Vinamilk keeps to VND 4,350 per share as in 2025, the next payment would be about VND 1,850 (VND 4,350 minus VND 2,500), exactly the size of the final payment for 2025.
If full-year profit beats the plan, there is room for a larger payout. If it falls short, the next payment could be smaller. The 2026 annual financial statements will be the basis for that decision, and they are the most useful signal to watch in the coming months.