VEA announced H1 2018 consolidated NPAT-MI of VND3.3tn (USD140mn), +51% YoY, driven by shared profits from automobile associate companies, including Honda, Toyota and Ford Vietnam. H1 2018 NPAT-MI surpassed our expectation; material upward revision to TP is likely. Reiterate BUY. We attribute VEA’s outperformance vs our expectation to (1) outperforming Honda motorbike sales, (2) apparent forecast-beating profit margins at the automobile associates.