A Ho Chi Minh City-based advertising firm has sued its internet service provider, FPT Telecom, for a malfunction that caused the loss of hundreds of emails. The plaintiff is demanding US$1 mln in compensation.
The Viet My Advertising Company said it filed the case against FPT Telecom at the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court.
Viet My said it had contracted FPT Telecom, a subsidiary of the blue-chip FPT group, to host its web site and emails since 2005.
The email service broke down on February 6 this year and when it worked again the next day, all information and data of the emails from the company’s 10 accounts were lost, according to Viet My.
Viet My Director Phan Quy Nga said the lost emails caused great financial losses to his company.
Nga said the contract had stated that FPT Telecom was responsible for the system’s security and the safety of data.
He said Viet My had contacted FPT Telecom many times to solve the problem but the service provider seemed to “lack good will.”
But FPT said the problem was caused by technical hardware problem beyond its responsibility.
Mai Xuan Khoi, an FPT Telecom senior official, said Viet My’s demands were “unreasonable.”
He said service providers only made sure the emails arrived in the users’ mailboxes, and it was the users’ responsibility to keep their emails.
FPT Telecom has offered several favorable service packages for Viet My in compensation for the incident, which were all turned down, Khoi said.
Khoi said the email hosting system breakdown on February 6 was caused by physical errors in the mail server’s hard drive, which affected over 100 other companies.
“This is a rare, unexpected and unwanted problem,” he said.
However, the Thuong Mai (Trade) newspaper quoted Khoi as saying that the hard drive had been used for over a year while it had been technically advised for use for less than 6 months.
Khoi also said FPT Telecom was trying to recover the loss date, but the chance was minor.
Source: Thanh Nien
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sacombank begins laying foundation for $5 mln data center
The Ho Chi Minh City-based Sacombank has begun work on a US$5 million data center to house the lender’s southern server system and technology network.
The center, located in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An District, will cost the bank an estimated $2 million for basic infrastructure and US$3 million for IT facilities.
It is scheduled to begin operation by the year’s end.
The bank has recently sealed a deal with leading software producer Microsoft to modernize its IT system.
In the last four years, Sacombank has spent US$4 million on technology and plans to invest more.
The HCMC bourse-listed bank experienced high growth in the year’s first quarter with gross profits soaring 88 percent to reach VND302 billion.
Sacombank also posted total assets of VND30 trillion, a surge of 68 percent against the same period last year.
Earlier this year Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sacombank’s Individual and Support ratings of 'D' and '5', respectively, reflecting its adequate balance sheet strength and good profitability.
It is set to make a 1:2 rights issue this year to raise VND1.45 trillion (US$90 million), increasing its chartered capital to VND3.55 trillion ($221 million).
Sacombank has three foreign strategic shareholders, the World Bank's International Finance Corp., Dragon Capital and ANZ Bank , which altogether held 26.3 percent of stake.
The bank reportedly might lift the cap on foreign investors’ holdings in the bank.
Source: Thanh Nien
The center, located in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An District, will cost the bank an estimated $2 million for basic infrastructure and US$3 million for IT facilities.
It is scheduled to begin operation by the year’s end.
The bank has recently sealed a deal with leading software producer Microsoft to modernize its IT system.
In the last four years, Sacombank has spent US$4 million on technology and plans to invest more.
The HCMC bourse-listed bank experienced high growth in the year’s first quarter with gross profits soaring 88 percent to reach VND302 billion.
Sacombank also posted total assets of VND30 trillion, a surge of 68 percent against the same period last year.
Earlier this year Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sacombank’s Individual and Support ratings of 'D' and '5', respectively, reflecting its adequate balance sheet strength and good profitability.
It is set to make a 1:2 rights issue this year to raise VND1.45 trillion (US$90 million), increasing its chartered capital to VND3.55 trillion ($221 million).
Sacombank has three foreign strategic shareholders, the World Bank's International Finance Corp., Dragon Capital and ANZ Bank , which altogether held 26.3 percent of stake.
The bank reportedly might lift the cap on foreign investors’ holdings in the bank.
Source: Thanh Nien
Saturday, April 28, 2007
SSI to sell 10% stake to foreigner partner
Saigon Securities Inc, (SSI, Hanoi Stock Exchange) Vietnam’s biggest brokerage house, is set to sell 10% of its stake to a foreign investor and triple its chartered capital to VND1.5 trillion this year.
A spokesman for the market-listed brokerage said the firm was in negotiations to sell the stake to a strategic partner at US$90 million.
But it is not known if the 10% will be in the expanded capital or existing capital.
According to another source, interested parties include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Stanley, and UBS.
SSI plans to issue fresh shares and convertible bonds this year, with a detailed plan to be presented to shareholders in September.
It is also mulling listing in Ho Chi Minh City and in foreign exchanges like Hong Kong and Singapore.
In other plans, SSI is seeking to become a holding company, spinning off independent offshoots specializing in securities and investment banking services.
In the first quarter, its after-tax profit was VND465 billion (US$29 million) on revenues of VND579 billion.
Source: Thanh Nien vietnam equity fund
A spokesman for the market-listed brokerage said the firm was in negotiations to sell the stake to a strategic partner at US$90 million.
But it is not known if the 10% will be in the expanded capital or existing capital.
According to another source, interested parties include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Stanley, and UBS.
SSI plans to issue fresh shares and convertible bonds this year, with a detailed plan to be presented to shareholders in September.
It is also mulling listing in Ho Chi Minh City and in foreign exchanges like Hong Kong and Singapore.
In other plans, SSI is seeking to become a holding company, spinning off independent offshoots specializing in securities and investment banking services.
In the first quarter, its after-tax profit was VND465 billion (US$29 million) on revenues of VND579 billion.
Source: Thanh Nien vietnam equity fund
Friday, April 27, 2007
Taiwanese firm picks 15% of TRIBECO
Taiwan’s Uni President Enterprises Corp. (UPEC) has bought a 15% stake in Ho Chi Minh’s Saigon Beverage Company (TRI, Tribeco) for US$2.2 million.
Following the deal sealed Wednesday, UPEC and Tribeco – the beverage company’s formal name – have committed to long-term cooperation for mutual growth.
Tribeco representatives have said that doing business with UPEC is a strategic move to enter Asian markets as UPEC plays a leading role in the distribution of food, beverages and retail throughout the continent.
Tribeco plans to commission a VND300 billion factory to produce soft drinks in Binh Duong Province’s Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in August. The company will also begin construction of a VND90 billion facility in the northern province of Hung Yen next month.
With the acquisition, the Taiwanese company has become the second strategic shareholder of Tribeco after Vietnam’s leading confectioner Kinh Do Corp with 35.4%.
UPEC moved into Vietnam in 1999 with $220 million in total pledged investment capital. The firm is active in a range of fields like animal and fish feed, wheat flour, food and drinks.
However the company’s current soft drink facilities in Binh Duong Province have not reached their potential.
UPEC spokesman said the beverages line in Binh Duong would be shut down soon to focus on Tribeco.
Source: Thanh Nien
Following the deal sealed Wednesday, UPEC and Tribeco – the beverage company’s formal name – have committed to long-term cooperation for mutual growth.
Tribeco representatives have said that doing business with UPEC is a strategic move to enter Asian markets as UPEC plays a leading role in the distribution of food, beverages and retail throughout the continent.
Tribeco plans to commission a VND300 billion factory to produce soft drinks in Binh Duong Province’s Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in August. The company will also begin construction of a VND90 billion facility in the northern province of Hung Yen next month.
With the acquisition, the Taiwanese company has become the second strategic shareholder of Tribeco after Vietnam’s leading confectioner Kinh Do Corp with 35.4%.
UPEC moved into Vietnam in 1999 with $220 million in total pledged investment capital. The firm is active in a range of fields like animal and fish feed, wheat flour, food and drinks.
However the company’s current soft drink facilities in Binh Duong Province have not reached their potential.
UPEC spokesman said the beverages line in Binh Duong would be shut down soon to focus on Tribeco.
Source: Thanh Nien
BIDV sets up energy and industry fund
A fund management company that will focus on financing industrial and energy projects within the country will become operational by the second quarter of this year.
The Energy and Industry Fund Management Company was designed to manage a fund of the same name worth 10 trillion VND (625 million USD), said BIDV General Director Tran Bac Ha at a press briefing in Ha Noi on April 25.
According to Ha, the fund, the largest of its kind in Viet Nam, will prioritise investment in energy and industrial projects carried out by its founding members.
The fund is to be jointly set up by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) and the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), the Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industry Group (Vinacomin), the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the Song Da Corporation and the Urban and Industrial Zones Development Investment Corporation (IDICO).
The portfolio will initially focus on projects to build power plants in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia and explore mineral deposits both within and outside the country.
Ha said the fund will allow for investments of more than 7.36 trillion VND in total (460 million USD) for 82 projects during the period between 2007-2009.
BIDV, one of Viet Nam’s largest commercial banks, had previously established two fund management companies, which currently manages over 12 trillion VND (750 million USD).
Source: VNA
The Energy and Industry Fund Management Company was designed to manage a fund of the same name worth 10 trillion VND (625 million USD), said BIDV General Director Tran Bac Ha at a press briefing in Ha Noi on April 25.
According to Ha, the fund, the largest of its kind in Viet Nam, will prioritise investment in energy and industrial projects carried out by its founding members.
The fund is to be jointly set up by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) and the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), the Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industry Group (Vinacomin), the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the Song Da Corporation and the Urban and Industrial Zones Development Investment Corporation (IDICO).
The portfolio will initially focus on projects to build power plants in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia and explore mineral deposits both within and outside the country.
Ha said the fund will allow for investments of more than 7.36 trillion VND in total (460 million USD) for 82 projects during the period between 2007-2009.
BIDV, one of Viet Nam’s largest commercial banks, had previously established two fund management companies, which currently manages over 12 trillion VND (750 million USD).
Source: VNA
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Vietnamese stocks bounced ahead of a six-day holiday
n Ho Chi Minh City, the VN-Index gained 18.36 points to close at 923.89. Hanoi’s HASTC-Index rose by 13.28 points to 332.79.
Turnover in HCMC was VND578 billion (US$36 million), over 25% higher than the previous session.
There were 100 gainers and only two losers out of the total 109 stocks.
While many blue chips gained strongly, analysts said the market was dragged down by two heavyweights, VSH and FPT, which respectively remained unchanged and lost 2%.
They attributed the smart recovery to good news coming in about the economy.
The Central Institute of Economic Management has forecast that the economy will expand by 8.5% this year; the government has said Vietnam is likely to attract foreign investment worth $35 billion this year.
The mutual funds, PRUBF1 and VFMVF1, both gained 1.5% to close at VND13,900 and VND33,400.
Foreign investors were net buyers, snapping up shares of blue chips like VNM, GMD, PVD,VSH, and PPC for VND153 billion.
The bourse reopens after the holidays on May 2.
Source: Thanh Nien
Turnover in HCMC was VND578 billion (US$36 million), over 25% higher than the previous session.
There were 100 gainers and only two losers out of the total 109 stocks.
While many blue chips gained strongly, analysts said the market was dragged down by two heavyweights, VSH and FPT, which respectively remained unchanged and lost 2%.
They attributed the smart recovery to good news coming in about the economy.
The Central Institute of Economic Management has forecast that the economy will expand by 8.5% this year; the government has said Vietnam is likely to attract foreign investment worth $35 billion this year.
The mutual funds, PRUBF1 and VFMVF1, both gained 1.5% to close at VND13,900 and VND33,400.
Foreign investors were net buyers, snapping up shares of blue chips like VNM, GMD, PVD,VSH, and PPC for VND153 billion.
The bourse reopens after the holidays on May 2.
Source: Thanh Nien
1st quarter FDI doubled
Viet Nam attracted 3.51 billion USD in foreign investment in the first four months of this year, a two-fold increase from 2006.
Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, said that a further 20 billion USD in foreign invested projects are waiting for his ministry’s approval.
The Minister said that last year's entire foreign investment to the country amounted to 10.2 billion USD and that investment incentives and simplified administrative procedures were the primary reasons behind the surge in investment from overseas.
Viet Nam also exported nearly 4 billion USD worth of products in April, the highest monthly level so far this year, said the General Statistics Office.
The number brought the country’s total exports to over 14.5 billion USD for the first four months, up 22% over the same period last year.
Big movers in export fields included, crude oil and garments that generated revenues exceeding 2 billion USD and seafood products and footwear that totalled in excess of 1 billion USD.
In the first four months of this year, Viet Nam’s industrial valued surged 16.7% to nearly 176.9 trillion VND, with non-state, foreign-invested and state-owned sectors registered rises of 20.6%, 19.4% and 7.4%, respectively.
Source: VNA
Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, said that a further 20 billion USD in foreign invested projects are waiting for his ministry’s approval.
The Minister said that last year's entire foreign investment to the country amounted to 10.2 billion USD and that investment incentives and simplified administrative procedures were the primary reasons behind the surge in investment from overseas.
Viet Nam also exported nearly 4 billion USD worth of products in April, the highest monthly level so far this year, said the General Statistics Office.
The number brought the country’s total exports to over 14.5 billion USD for the first four months, up 22% over the same period last year.
Big movers in export fields included, crude oil and garments that generated revenues exceeding 2 billion USD and seafood products and footwear that totalled in excess of 1 billion USD.
In the first four months of this year, Viet Nam’s industrial valued surged 16.7% to nearly 176.9 trillion VND, with non-state, foreign-invested and state-owned sectors registered rises of 20.6%, 19.4% and 7.4%, respectively.
Source: VNA
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
FPT shareholders approve dividend plan
Shareholders of software giant FPT approved the payment of dividends in 2006 and 2007 in the firm’s annual shareholders meeting on Sunday.
Under the plan, each FPT shareholder would receive a 12% of dividend in cash and one additional share from two existing share already held.
Employees who have been with the company for at least two years would also be eligible to buy preferential shares at their face value of VND10,000 ($0.63) so long as the total value of such shares accounted for no more than 0.5% of FPT’s charter capital.
Those who buy preferential shares would have to make a contractual commitment to work for FPT for at least three more years and, during that time, not to transfer their shares.
FPT would also award common shares with a face value of VND10,000 to staff who have performed well and contributed to the company’s growth. The total value of such shares would not be able to exceed 0.75% of charter capital.
The company announced that, to fund business expansion, it would increase its charter capital by releasing additional common shares with a total value not to exceeding 10% of total capital.
Nguyen Diep Tung, a member of the FPT management board, said that the company in 2006 met its target for the year of a turnover of nearly VND11.7 trillion ($730 million), representing a year-on-year increase of 42.4%. Net profits rose 60.5%.
Source: VNS
Under the plan, each FPT shareholder would receive a 12% of dividend in cash and one additional share from two existing share already held.
Employees who have been with the company for at least two years would also be eligible to buy preferential shares at their face value of VND10,000 ($0.63) so long as the total value of such shares accounted for no more than 0.5% of FPT’s charter capital.
Those who buy preferential shares would have to make a contractual commitment to work for FPT for at least three more years and, during that time, not to transfer their shares.
FPT would also award common shares with a face value of VND10,000 to staff who have performed well and contributed to the company’s growth. The total value of such shares would not be able to exceed 0.75% of charter capital.
The company announced that, to fund business expansion, it would increase its charter capital by releasing additional common shares with a total value not to exceeding 10% of total capital.
Nguyen Diep Tung, a member of the FPT management board, said that the company in 2006 met its target for the year of a turnover of nearly VND11.7 trillion ($730 million), representing a year-on-year increase of 42.4%. Net profits rose 60.5%.
Source: VNS
FPT pens deal to provide bank software
FPT Information System (FPT-IS) has won a US$500,000 contract to provide banking software to Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur (BCEL).
The deal is the largest supply contract to a foreign financial institute that the FPT-IS has ever signed, and includes rights to Smartbank, E-banking and ATM software for BCEL’s head office and branches.
"The contract represents the rapid development of FPT and the local software industry in the region and world," said FPT-IS deputy director Nguyen Dung Trieu.
FPT-IS is a subsidiary of market leader Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology, or simply FPT.
According to Trieu, Smartbank will help BCEL, Laos’s biggest commercial bank, quickly and accurately check customer information and execute transactions, while E-banking provides web based services.
Smartbank software has already been deployed in a number of domestic and foreign banks such as the LaoViet Bank, Cambodia Public Bank and VID-Public Bank.
According to the Viet Nam Software Association, FPT-IS is one of the largest providers of system platform integration and other software solutions in the region.
In 2006, FPT reported $517 million in revenue, up 70% over five years ago.
Source: VNS
The deal is the largest supply contract to a foreign financial institute that the FPT-IS has ever signed, and includes rights to Smartbank, E-banking and ATM software for BCEL’s head office and branches.
"The contract represents the rapid development of FPT and the local software industry in the region and world," said FPT-IS deputy director Nguyen Dung Trieu.
FPT-IS is a subsidiary of market leader Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology, or simply FPT.
According to Trieu, Smartbank will help BCEL, Laos’s biggest commercial bank, quickly and accurately check customer information and execute transactions, while E-banking provides web based services.
Smartbank software has already been deployed in a number of domestic and foreign banks such as the LaoViet Bank, Cambodia Public Bank and VID-Public Bank.
According to the Viet Nam Software Association, FPT-IS is one of the largest providers of system platform integration and other software solutions in the region.
In 2006, FPT reported $517 million in revenue, up 70% over five years ago.
Source: VNS
Trade deficit persists as imports surge 32%
The nation’s import growth rate during the first four months of the year was much higher than the growth of exports, leading to a growing trade deficit, according to the General Statistic Office.
The first four months reached an export turnover of US$14.5 billion, an annual increase of 22 per cent, the Office said. Of which, the foreign invested sector recorded $8.1 billion in export turnover, and the domestic sector made $6.42 billion, a significant increase of nearly 28 per cent.
Of the key export products, crude oil continued earning the highest export turnover of $2.36 billion although this product has decreased year-on-year in both quality and value.
Garments, despite the difficulties in the US market which accounts for as much as 50 per cent of the total export value, kept its stable growth rate of 31.7 per cent with turnover of $2.2 billion.
The domestic garment industry is fighting against a monitoring system set up by the US Department of Commerce, which may severely affect Vietnamese garment exports in the next months.
Footwear ranked third in export turnover with $1.2 billion, an annual increase of 11 per cent. The footwear sector is becoming more and more competitive due to the significant tax decreases for input products brought about by the nation’s WTO membership.
Seafood, one of the products most expected to record a high export turnover increase in 2007, has export turnover of $1.04 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.4 per cent.
Coffee recorded the highest growth rate of 134.8 per cent thanks to high prices in contracts from the September 2006 to March 2007 crop.
The nation’s four biggest exporting markets now are the EU, the US, Japan and China, of which the US market imported more than $2 billion from Viet Nam with the main imported products being garments, footwear and wood products.
Import marked a huge year-on-year increase of 32.8 per cent with turnover of $16.8 billion. Of which, the domestic sector imported $10.7 billion, an increase of 35.3 per cent and the foreign invested sector imported $6.1 billion, an increase of 28.7 per cent.
The high import growth rate is attributed to several factors, according to Vo Tri Thanh from the Central Institute for Economic Management.
They include the increase in foreign investment in Viet Nam, the high growth rate in GDP and the stable exchange rate of dong against theUS dollar.
Importation of products used in production accounted for a large proportion of the trade deficit, including machinery ($2.9 billion, an annual increase of 52.7 per cent), petroleum (more than $2 billion), and raw materials for the construction industry.
The high growth rate in import turnover has brought a huge increase of 72 per cent in the nation’s trade deficit.
Thanh said that the increase in the trade deficit, up to now, is not worrying as Viet Nam still has a surplus in the balance of trade. The increase is suitable with the high growth rate of the country, he said.
Source: VNS
The first four months reached an export turnover of US$14.5 billion, an annual increase of 22 per cent, the Office said. Of which, the foreign invested sector recorded $8.1 billion in export turnover, and the domestic sector made $6.42 billion, a significant increase of nearly 28 per cent.
Of the key export products, crude oil continued earning the highest export turnover of $2.36 billion although this product has decreased year-on-year in both quality and value.
Garments, despite the difficulties in the US market which accounts for as much as 50 per cent of the total export value, kept its stable growth rate of 31.7 per cent with turnover of $2.2 billion.
The domestic garment industry is fighting against a monitoring system set up by the US Department of Commerce, which may severely affect Vietnamese garment exports in the next months.
Footwear ranked third in export turnover with $1.2 billion, an annual increase of 11 per cent. The footwear sector is becoming more and more competitive due to the significant tax decreases for input products brought about by the nation’s WTO membership.
Seafood, one of the products most expected to record a high export turnover increase in 2007, has export turnover of $1.04 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.4 per cent.
Coffee recorded the highest growth rate of 134.8 per cent thanks to high prices in contracts from the September 2006 to March 2007 crop.
The nation’s four biggest exporting markets now are the EU, the US, Japan and China, of which the US market imported more than $2 billion from Viet Nam with the main imported products being garments, footwear and wood products.
Import marked a huge year-on-year increase of 32.8 per cent with turnover of $16.8 billion. Of which, the domestic sector imported $10.7 billion, an increase of 35.3 per cent and the foreign invested sector imported $6.1 billion, an increase of 28.7 per cent.
The high import growth rate is attributed to several factors, according to Vo Tri Thanh from the Central Institute for Economic Management.
They include the increase in foreign investment in Viet Nam, the high growth rate in GDP and the stable exchange rate of dong against theUS dollar.
Importation of products used in production accounted for a large proportion of the trade deficit, including machinery ($2.9 billion, an annual increase of 52.7 per cent), petroleum (more than $2 billion), and raw materials for the construction industry.
The high growth rate in import turnover has brought a huge increase of 72 per cent in the nation’s trade deficit.
Thanh said that the increase in the trade deficit, up to now, is not worrying as Viet Nam still has a surplus in the balance of trade. The increase is suitable with the high growth rate of the country, he said.
Source: VNS
Sugar maker signs contracts with new partner group
The Bourbon Tay Ninh Sugar Company (SBT) on Monday signed contracts to sell shares to 17 local and foreign strategic partners in an effort to develop the company’s business.
The strategic partners hold a total of 24 per cent of the company, whose capital stands at VND1.419 trillion (US$88 million).
However, the specific percentage of ownership of each of the partners was not released.
Philippe Lombard, the company’s general director, said the co-operation would help his company grow in the field of investment and production.
The 17 companies, including Vinamilk, Kinh Do, Uni President, Dai Viet Securities Company and VinaCapital were classified into three groups of trade, finance and others.
The sugar company will implement procedures to make the IPO (initial public offering) in June at the latest and list on the stock exchange this year.
SBT was set up in 1995 as a joint venture between the Bourbon Group of France and two Vietnamese partners, with the French group representing 70 per cent of the $28.5 million in chartered capital and its investment capital $95 million.
In 1998 the company increased its chartered capital to $39.5 million and its investment capital to $111 million.
After Bourbon acquired the two partners’ stake in 2000, capital then grew to $112 million and $113 million, respectively.
In March 2007 SBT received a licence from Tay Ninh Province to turn into a joint-stock company.
The company’s activities include making refined sugar, producing power from sugarcane waste to serve its production lines, and providing sugarcane cuttings.
Last year it netted VND193 billion, up from VND121 billion in 2005.
SBT plans to invest $55 million in a thermo-power project of 70 MW capacity, and another $10 million in an ethanol producing project capable of 100,000 litres each working day.
It will also make other investments, including developing sugar farming areas.
Source: VNS
The strategic partners hold a total of 24 per cent of the company, whose capital stands at VND1.419 trillion (US$88 million).
However, the specific percentage of ownership of each of the partners was not released.
Philippe Lombard, the company’s general director, said the co-operation would help his company grow in the field of investment and production.
The 17 companies, including Vinamilk, Kinh Do, Uni President, Dai Viet Securities Company and VinaCapital were classified into three groups of trade, finance and others.
The sugar company will implement procedures to make the IPO (initial public offering) in June at the latest and list on the stock exchange this year.
SBT was set up in 1995 as a joint venture between the Bourbon Group of France and two Vietnamese partners, with the French group representing 70 per cent of the $28.5 million in chartered capital and its investment capital $95 million.
In 1998 the company increased its chartered capital to $39.5 million and its investment capital to $111 million.
After Bourbon acquired the two partners’ stake in 2000, capital then grew to $112 million and $113 million, respectively.
In March 2007 SBT received a licence from Tay Ninh Province to turn into a joint-stock company.
The company’s activities include making refined sugar, producing power from sugarcane waste to serve its production lines, and providing sugarcane cuttings.
Last year it netted VND193 billion, up from VND121 billion in 2005.
SBT plans to invest $55 million in a thermo-power project of 70 MW capacity, and another $10 million in an ethanol producing project capable of 100,000 litres each working day.
It will also make other investments, including developing sugar farming areas.
Source: VNS
Sacombank raises dollar deposits
The Ho Chi Minh bourse-listed Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank, STB) has issued certificates of deposit (CDs) in US dollars for both clients and investors.
The CDs come with a minimum face value of ranging from $200 to $100,000 [CDs purchase by cash or bank account] and carry a coupon rate of 4.6 – 4.8%; 4.75 – 4.95%; and 4.95 – 5.15% for four month, eight month and eleven month terms respectively.
The issuance has been opened from April 20 to June 20.
The bank is set to make a 1:2 rights issue this year to raise VND1.45 trillion (US$90 million), increasing its chartered capital to VND3.55 trillion ($221 million).
Some three million shares will also be offered to key executives at VND15,000.
Sacombank has projected pre-tax profit of VND845 billion ($52.6 million) this year, up 55% from last year.
Its outstanding loans at the end of last year were 73% higher year-on-year at VND14.54 trillion ($905 million). Deposits increased 75% to VND21.52 trillion ($1.3 billion).
Sacombank shares started trading on July 12, 2006 in the HCMC Securities Trading Center, making the lender the country's largest listed company at the time, boosting Vietnam's stock market value then by 53%.
The bank has three strategic foreign shareholders, the World Bank's International Finance Corp., Dragon Capital and ANZ Bank, which altogether held 26.3% of stake.
Another source predicted the central bank might lift the cap on foreign investors’ holdings in the bank.
Source: Thanh Nien
The CDs come with a minimum face value of ranging from $200 to $100,000 [CDs purchase by cash or bank account] and carry a coupon rate of 4.6 – 4.8%; 4.75 – 4.95%; and 4.95 – 5.15% for four month, eight month and eleven month terms respectively.
The issuance has been opened from April 20 to June 20.
The bank is set to make a 1:2 rights issue this year to raise VND1.45 trillion (US$90 million), increasing its chartered capital to VND3.55 trillion ($221 million).
Some three million shares will also be offered to key executives at VND15,000.
Sacombank has projected pre-tax profit of VND845 billion ($52.6 million) this year, up 55% from last year.
Its outstanding loans at the end of last year were 73% higher year-on-year at VND14.54 trillion ($905 million). Deposits increased 75% to VND21.52 trillion ($1.3 billion).
Sacombank shares started trading on July 12, 2006 in the HCMC Securities Trading Center, making the lender the country's largest listed company at the time, boosting Vietnam's stock market value then by 53%.
The bank has three strategic foreign shareholders, the World Bank's International Finance Corp., Dragon Capital and ANZ Bank, which altogether held 26.3% of stake.
Another source predicted the central bank might lift the cap on foreign investors’ holdings in the bank.
Source: Thanh Nien
Vietnam Dong captures attention of derivative traders
DBS Group Holdings and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group have begun offshore trading in contracts tied to the future value of the currency, the dong. The $50 million of Vietnamese contracts that trade monthly may double in a year, Standard Chartered estimates.
More than $1 billion of Chinese yuan forwards change hands daily in an overseas market that did not exist 15 years ago, HSBC Holdings said.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung loosened currency controls this year and announced plans to increase sales of state-owned assets. The new currency market gives investors more opportunities to bet on an economy that expanded at a 7.7% annual rate in the first quarter and may grow 8.3% this year, according to the Asian Development Bank.
"You can't imagine the amount of money going into Vietnam," said Peter Soh, head of foreign exchange in Singapore at DBS, Southeast Asia's biggest bank. "Everyone thinks Vietnam will follow China's path. The dong must strengthen."
Vietnam's benchmark stock index is up 29% so far in 2007, after gaining 145% in 2006, the world's best performance. The economy is the fastest among the six biggest in Southeast Asia.
Investors need derivatives to trade the currency because the government only allows them to buy dong for specific purposes, such as investing in stocks or building factories. The contracts are settled in dollars.
"It's very positive," and is in line with government goals of having the currency trade overseas, State Bank of Vietnam's deputy governor, Phung Khac Ke, said in an interview in Hanoi. "It shows international investors are more and more interested in Vietnam."
The central bank's support coincides with Dung's plans to open the economy.
Dung, 57, became prime minister in June and last week approved a $1 billion sale of government bonds, the largest ever. The Communist Party this year told three of the four biggest state banks to prepare for initial public offerings.
Vietnam this year ended a decade-long policy of "managed devaluation" that caused the dong to weaken 30%. The currency gained 0.7% between Nov. 22 and Feb. 21. It has since fallen 0.4% to 16,041.05 per dollar as regulators curbed borrowing for stock market investment.
Three-month, nondeliverable forward contracts trade at 16,111 to the dollar, data compiled by Bloomberg found. The prices take into account higher interest rates in Vietnam as well as the expectations among traders for dong movements.
The central bank will "keep the dong stable, in a flexible manner, so that it can help our exports," Ke said.
Traders may be "turned off" by the central bank's support for gradual depreciation, said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist in Singapore at the Sydney-based Westpac Banking. State controls may limit swings in the currency and opportunities to profit, he said.
Investors are still "testing the water" in Vietnam, said Amy Auster, head of international economics at the Melbourne-based ANZ Bank, which owns stakes in two Vietnamese banks.
Derivatives are financial instruments derived from stocks, bonds, loans, currencies and commodities, or linked to specific events like changes in the weather or interest rates.
Trading in the futures may increase once banks introduce a standardized contract for the dong by early June, DBS said in an e-mail. Between 15 and 20 banks in Singapore and five brokers may be interested in the market, DBS said. The central bank doubled the daily limit on dong moves against the dollar to 0.5% this year.
"Vietnam is the next market in Asia to look at," said Greg Clinton, global head of interest rate derivatives in Singapore at Standard Chartered, a London-based bank that makes two-thirds of its profit in Asia. "It's booming but it has currency restrictions, and that gives rise to a nondeliverable market."
Forwards are agreements to buy assets at a later specified date. A nondeliverable forward is typically settled in dollars and involves no physical exchange of other currencies.
Source: Thanh Nien
More than $1 billion of Chinese yuan forwards change hands daily in an overseas market that did not exist 15 years ago, HSBC Holdings said.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung loosened currency controls this year and announced plans to increase sales of state-owned assets. The new currency market gives investors more opportunities to bet on an economy that expanded at a 7.7% annual rate in the first quarter and may grow 8.3% this year, according to the Asian Development Bank.
"You can't imagine the amount of money going into Vietnam," said Peter Soh, head of foreign exchange in Singapore at DBS, Southeast Asia's biggest bank. "Everyone thinks Vietnam will follow China's path. The dong must strengthen."
Vietnam's benchmark stock index is up 29% so far in 2007, after gaining 145% in 2006, the world's best performance. The economy is the fastest among the six biggest in Southeast Asia.
Investors need derivatives to trade the currency because the government only allows them to buy dong for specific purposes, such as investing in stocks or building factories. The contracts are settled in dollars.
"It's very positive," and is in line with government goals of having the currency trade overseas, State Bank of Vietnam's deputy governor, Phung Khac Ke, said in an interview in Hanoi. "It shows international investors are more and more interested in Vietnam."
The central bank's support coincides with Dung's plans to open the economy.
Dung, 57, became prime minister in June and last week approved a $1 billion sale of government bonds, the largest ever. The Communist Party this year told three of the four biggest state banks to prepare for initial public offerings.
Vietnam this year ended a decade-long policy of "managed devaluation" that caused the dong to weaken 30%. The currency gained 0.7% between Nov. 22 and Feb. 21. It has since fallen 0.4% to 16,041.05 per dollar as regulators curbed borrowing for stock market investment.
Three-month, nondeliverable forward contracts trade at 16,111 to the dollar, data compiled by Bloomberg found. The prices take into account higher interest rates in Vietnam as well as the expectations among traders for dong movements.
The central bank will "keep the dong stable, in a flexible manner, so that it can help our exports," Ke said.
Traders may be "turned off" by the central bank's support for gradual depreciation, said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist in Singapore at the Sydney-based Westpac Banking. State controls may limit swings in the currency and opportunities to profit, he said.
Investors are still "testing the water" in Vietnam, said Amy Auster, head of international economics at the Melbourne-based ANZ Bank, which owns stakes in two Vietnamese banks.
Derivatives are financial instruments derived from stocks, bonds, loans, currencies and commodities, or linked to specific events like changes in the weather or interest rates.
Trading in the futures may increase once banks introduce a standardized contract for the dong by early June, DBS said in an e-mail. Between 15 and 20 banks in Singapore and five brokers may be interested in the market, DBS said. The central bank doubled the daily limit on dong moves against the dollar to 0.5% this year.
"Vietnam is the next market in Asia to look at," said Greg Clinton, global head of interest rate derivatives in Singapore at Standard Chartered, a London-based bank that makes two-thirds of its profit in Asia. "It's booming but it has currency restrictions, and that gives rise to a nondeliverable market."
Forwards are agreements to buy assets at a later specified date. A nondeliverable forward is typically settled in dollars and involves no physical exchange of other currencies.
Source: Thanh Nien
Vietnam's government bond coupon rises to 7.15%
The annual coupon on Vietnam's government bond issue edged up to 7.15% this week, from 7% in early April and a record low of 6.5% on debt sold in March, the Hanoi stock exchange said on Wednesday.
The over-the-counter market said four investors bought 300 billion dong ($18.6 million) worth of five-year government bonds on par with their 100,000 dong face value on Tuesday, after bidders priced the debt at between 7% and 7.5%.
At the previous auction on April 10, a total of 700 billion dong ($41 million) worth of five-year government bonds were sold to four investors at 7%, up from a record low coupon of 6.5% at the previous auction on Marh 26.
The government has raised 2.46 trillion dong ($153 million) worth of five-year bonds at four auctions on the Hanoi Securities Trading Center so far this year, or 61.5% of the debt on offer, with coupons ranging between 6.5% and 7.62%.
The Hanoi stock exchange also said it planned to hold another bond auction to raise 400 billion dong ($25 million) in May.
The Finance Ministry plans to raise 22 trillion dong ($1.37 billion) worth of government bonds between March and year-end to invest in transport and irrigation projects.
The debt terms will range from five years to 15 years.
Apart from selling government bonds, the Hanoi market also auctioned debt issued by the Vietnam Development Bank and urban bonds issued by the Ho Chi Minh City government.
Source: Reuters
The over-the-counter market said four investors bought 300 billion dong ($18.6 million) worth of five-year government bonds on par with their 100,000 dong face value on Tuesday, after bidders priced the debt at between 7% and 7.5%.
At the previous auction on April 10, a total of 700 billion dong ($41 million) worth of five-year government bonds were sold to four investors at 7%, up from a record low coupon of 6.5% at the previous auction on Marh 26.
The government has raised 2.46 trillion dong ($153 million) worth of five-year bonds at four auctions on the Hanoi Securities Trading Center so far this year, or 61.5% of the debt on offer, with coupons ranging between 6.5% and 7.62%.
The Hanoi stock exchange also said it planned to hold another bond auction to raise 400 billion dong ($25 million) in May.
The Finance Ministry plans to raise 22 trillion dong ($1.37 billion) worth of government bonds between March and year-end to invest in transport and irrigation projects.
The debt terms will range from five years to 15 years.
Apart from selling government bonds, the Hanoi market also auctioned debt issued by the Vietnam Development Bank and urban bonds issued by the Ho Chi Minh City government.
Source: Reuters
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Small investors sell: Vietnamese stock prices tumble
Small investors who risked savings and borrowed money to buy into Vietnam's booming stock exchange are fleeing the market, which shed more than a third of this year's gain in less than a week.
"Small investors like myself are selling because we are not sure how soon the market can recover losses we are experiencing," said one low-paid state employee, who asked not to be identified. "With the pressure of interest on loans, we need to sell now."
The Vietnam Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center shed almost 10% in the past week to a three-month low of 905.53 points. It hit a record high of 1,170.67 points on March 12.
"Small investors, especially those who borrowed, could not take the heat from the slide in the past two weeks," a market analyst at a foreign investment fund in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Economists, market analysts and foreign fund managers have all warned investors for months that the market was overheated, several predicting a decline of 30% this year.
They said a slew of new listings expected this year would help to cool the market. The index, one of the world's fastest growing stock markets last year at 144.5%, is still up nearly 20% this year.
"The sell-down is extremely healthy," said Spencer White, a former Merrill Lynch strategist who is joining Vietnamese investment bank Thien Viet Securities. "It injects an element of reality and what companies should expect is a reasonable valuation of their equity."
Thousands of ordinary people have invested their savings, borrowed money, or mortgaged homes to buy stocks in the hope of making money quickly on the main exchange, the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center and an unregulated market.
But for some, the reality of losses and warnings from market authorities are beginning to sink in.
On Tuesday, shares in 76 of the 107 companies listed in Ho Chi Minh City fell. The Hanoi exchange closed at 319.51 points after weeks of declines. It reached its lifetime high of 469.72 points on March 20.
Brokers also said a decision by the main exchange to raise the minimum sale volume to 100 shares per transaction from 10 shares also triggered selling by small investors wanting to avoid liquidity problems when that rule takes effect from June 7.
Transactions of less than 100 shares could only be executed between investors and their brokerages.
Shares in FPT, the largest listed company, closed down 4.8% at 434,000 dong ($26.9). Shares in the second-largest listed firm, dairy product maker Vinamilk (VNM), fell 4.7% to 161,000 dong.
"We think the wall of money can sustain stocks in a 900-1,100 band, but there will be a lot of investor caution above the top end," John Shrimpton of Ho Chi Minh City-based Dragon Capital fund manager said in a research note at the end of March.
Source: Reuters
"Small investors like myself are selling because we are not sure how soon the market can recover losses we are experiencing," said one low-paid state employee, who asked not to be identified. "With the pressure of interest on loans, we need to sell now."
The Vietnam Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center shed almost 10% in the past week to a three-month low of 905.53 points. It hit a record high of 1,170.67 points on March 12.
"Small investors, especially those who borrowed, could not take the heat from the slide in the past two weeks," a market analyst at a foreign investment fund in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Economists, market analysts and foreign fund managers have all warned investors for months that the market was overheated, several predicting a decline of 30% this year.
They said a slew of new listings expected this year would help to cool the market. The index, one of the world's fastest growing stock markets last year at 144.5%, is still up nearly 20% this year.
"The sell-down is extremely healthy," said Spencer White, a former Merrill Lynch strategist who is joining Vietnamese investment bank Thien Viet Securities. "It injects an element of reality and what companies should expect is a reasonable valuation of their equity."
Thousands of ordinary people have invested their savings, borrowed money, or mortgaged homes to buy stocks in the hope of making money quickly on the main exchange, the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center and an unregulated market.
But for some, the reality of losses and warnings from market authorities are beginning to sink in.
On Tuesday, shares in 76 of the 107 companies listed in Ho Chi Minh City fell. The Hanoi exchange closed at 319.51 points after weeks of declines. It reached its lifetime high of 469.72 points on March 20.
Brokers also said a decision by the main exchange to raise the minimum sale volume to 100 shares per transaction from 10 shares also triggered selling by small investors wanting to avoid liquidity problems when that rule takes effect from June 7.
Transactions of less than 100 shares could only be executed between investors and their brokerages.
Shares in FPT, the largest listed company, closed down 4.8% at 434,000 dong ($26.9). Shares in the second-largest listed firm, dairy product maker Vinamilk (VNM), fell 4.7% to 161,000 dong.
"We think the wall of money can sustain stocks in a 900-1,100 band, but there will be a lot of investor caution above the top end," John Shrimpton of Ho Chi Minh City-based Dragon Capital fund manager said in a research note at the end of March.
Source: Reuters
PVFCC raises more than 430 US$ in IPO
State-run Petrovietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Company raised more than $430 million in an initial public offering of a third of its shares, brokers said on Tuesday.
The firm, a member of the Petrovietnam group, sold 128,626,600, or 33.8%, of its shares on April 21 at an average price of 54,400 dong ($3.37) each, they said.
The price was nearly 9% above the company's initial bidding price of 50,000 dong ($3.1) and suggested the company was valued at nearly $1.3 billion, brokers in Ho Chi Minh City said.
The firm, known as PVFCC, operates Vietnam's only fertiliser plant, the Phu My Urea Plant in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. It has yet to announce a listing plan or say what it plans to do with the proceeds.
The urea it produces and the fertiliser it imports meet 40% of Vietnam's domestic demand.
PVFCC started operations in January 2004 and its Phu My plant is designed to produce 2,200 tonnes of urea per day.
Vietnam still imported 3.05 million tonnes of fertiliser last year, up 5.9% from 2005, but urea imports fell 17.8% to 708,000 tonnes, government statistics show.
Source: Reuters
The firm, a member of the Petrovietnam group, sold 128,626,600, or 33.8%, of its shares on April 21 at an average price of 54,400 dong ($3.37) each, they said.
The price was nearly 9% above the company's initial bidding price of 50,000 dong ($3.1) and suggested the company was valued at nearly $1.3 billion, brokers in Ho Chi Minh City said.
The firm, known as PVFCC, operates Vietnam's only fertiliser plant, the Phu My Urea Plant in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. It has yet to announce a listing plan or say what it plans to do with the proceeds.
The urea it produces and the fertiliser it imports meet 40% of Vietnam's domestic demand.
PVFCC started operations in January 2004 and its Phu My plant is designed to produce 2,200 tonnes of urea per day.
Vietnam still imported 3.05 million tonnes of fertiliser last year, up 5.9% from 2005, but urea imports fell 17.8% to 708,000 tonnes, government statistics show.
Source: Reuters
Over 1 billion US$ foreign investment in Vietnam stock market
The Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment has said net foreign inflow into the stock market by the end of last year was around US$1 billion.
A recent World Bank report said foreign portfolio investment was worth around $4 billion while total market capitalization was $24.4 billion.
Foreign investors are allowed to hold 49 percent of a company’s stocks, 30 percent in the case of banks.
Source: Thanh Nien
A recent World Bank report said foreign portfolio investment was worth around $4 billion while total market capitalization was $24.4 billion.
Foreign investors are allowed to hold 49 percent of a company’s stocks, 30 percent in the case of banks.
Source: Thanh Nien
Government urges Vietcombank to maintain IPO schedule
The Vietnamese government has instructed State-owned Vietcombank, Vietnam’s second largest bank by assets to strictly adhere to the schedule for its initial public offering this year.
In a dispatch Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung asked the bank to source out strategic foreign investors to participate in managing the structure of the bank.
Vietcombank is set to launch its IPO in July or August at the latest and list on the stock market by October, with the second shares auction to be conducted overseas next year.
The government will consult relevant agencies over the next four to five weeks, with the plan expected to receive final approval in June.
After going public, the state will hold a 70% stake in the bank and the remaining 30% will go to investors via domestic and overseas IPOs.
The bank plans to launch an IPO in Hong Kong or Singapore next year, where stock exchanges have recognized Vietcombank as qualifying under their basic requirements.
By the end of 2006, Vietcombank had assets of VND169.46 trillion ($10.06 billion), up 23.9% on year.
It made a net profit of VND2.47 trillion during the year, up 91.5% year on year, bank figures showed.
The bank has been rated BB/B by Standard & Poor’s, indicating prospects and internal capacity at D level, the highest rating for a financial institution in Vietnam.
Vietcombank is one of the four state-run banks ordered by the government to offer shares to the public this year.
The other three include Vietnam's third-largest bank Incombank and the Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development , will follow in 2008.
Source: Thanh Nien equity mekong capital vinacapital
In a dispatch Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung asked the bank to source out strategic foreign investors to participate in managing the structure of the bank.
Vietcombank is set to launch its IPO in July or August at the latest and list on the stock market by October, with the second shares auction to be conducted overseas next year.
The government will consult relevant agencies over the next four to five weeks, with the plan expected to receive final approval in June.
After going public, the state will hold a 70% stake in the bank and the remaining 30% will go to investors via domestic and overseas IPOs.
The bank plans to launch an IPO in Hong Kong or Singapore next year, where stock exchanges have recognized Vietcombank as qualifying under their basic requirements.
By the end of 2006, Vietcombank had assets of VND169.46 trillion ($10.06 billion), up 23.9% on year.
It made a net profit of VND2.47 trillion during the year, up 91.5% year on year, bank figures showed.
The bank has been rated BB/B by Standard & Poor’s, indicating prospects and internal capacity at D level, the highest rating for a financial institution in Vietnam.
Vietcombank is one of the four state-run banks ordered by the government to offer shares to the public this year.
The other three include Vietnam's third-largest bank Incombank and the Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development , will follow in 2008.
Source: Thanh Nien equity mekong capital vinacapital
Petrol price to be kept under 12'000 Dong
Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen said late last week during a press conference and online chat with the public that the petrol price would be kept under VND12,000 per litre in 2007.
The petrol price in several neighbouring countries has escalated to VND14-15,000 per litre. However, Mr Tuyen said that the levels cannot be applied for Vietnam, as Vietnamese people still cannot afford the levels. If the world’s oil price increases further to overly high levels, the State will reduce the import tax to 0% to help petrol importers minimise losses.
Under newly promulgated Decree No 55, oil and petrol trading companies have the right to define selling prices themselves. Mr Tuyen said that if oil and petrol trading companies still incurred losses even though the State imposed 0% on imports, the Government might apply the previously applied scheme, under which the Government determined selling prices.
“We cannot predict everything. In case of emergency, we have to use emergency measures,” Mr Tuyen said.
The domestic petrol price is now lower than the world’s average price level, which makes people think that once Decree 55 becomes effective, and allows distributors to define the selling prices themselves, the petrol price will increase promptly. However, Mr Tuyen has denied the scenario.
“In principle, enterprises have the right to define selling prices after May 1. However, no enterprise has registered to raise its selling prices so far,” Mr Tuyen said.
He said that enterprises would consider many factors, including speculation and the capability of incurring losses.
“If I were the director general of Petrolimex, I would not raise the selling prices soon after the decree becomes effective, as I hate speculation,” Mr Tuyen said. If enterprises intend to raise selling prices, their sales agents will know in advance and they could speculate to make profit: i.e. the profit of enterprises would flow to sales agents.
Deputy Director General of Petrolimex Bui Ngoc Bao said that the world’s oil price was decreasing, so Petrolimex would keep close watch over the world’s price for some time more before making decisions about prices.
However, he said that enterprises would develop their own business plans, and as they had been losing money for two months they would likely raise selling prices.
Mr Tuyen stressed that giving enterprises the right to define petrol prices did not mean that the State would float the market. He said that the State would still keep control over the market and petrol prices.
Oil and petrol trading companies must register price adjustments with relevant ministries, and if it finds that the price adjustment is not suitable, the ministries will ask the companies to stop their plans.
The petrol prices may go up and down, but the price increases must not exceed the price increase level of 7% set by the National Assembly.
Mr Tuyen has also announced the State would gradually reduce subsidies on diesel and mazut. It is estimated that by the end of this year, mazut oil will be priced based on the supply and demand basis, while a similar scheme for diesel will be applied in early 2008.
Source: VNE
The petrol price in several neighbouring countries has escalated to VND14-15,000 per litre. However, Mr Tuyen said that the levels cannot be applied for Vietnam, as Vietnamese people still cannot afford the levels. If the world’s oil price increases further to overly high levels, the State will reduce the import tax to 0% to help petrol importers minimise losses.
Under newly promulgated Decree No 55, oil and petrol trading companies have the right to define selling prices themselves. Mr Tuyen said that if oil and petrol trading companies still incurred losses even though the State imposed 0% on imports, the Government might apply the previously applied scheme, under which the Government determined selling prices.
“We cannot predict everything. In case of emergency, we have to use emergency measures,” Mr Tuyen said.
The domestic petrol price is now lower than the world’s average price level, which makes people think that once Decree 55 becomes effective, and allows distributors to define the selling prices themselves, the petrol price will increase promptly. However, Mr Tuyen has denied the scenario.
“In principle, enterprises have the right to define selling prices after May 1. However, no enterprise has registered to raise its selling prices so far,” Mr Tuyen said.
He said that enterprises would consider many factors, including speculation and the capability of incurring losses.
“If I were the director general of Petrolimex, I would not raise the selling prices soon after the decree becomes effective, as I hate speculation,” Mr Tuyen said. If enterprises intend to raise selling prices, their sales agents will know in advance and they could speculate to make profit: i.e. the profit of enterprises would flow to sales agents.
Deputy Director General of Petrolimex Bui Ngoc Bao said that the world’s oil price was decreasing, so Petrolimex would keep close watch over the world’s price for some time more before making decisions about prices.
However, he said that enterprises would develop their own business plans, and as they had been losing money for two months they would likely raise selling prices.
Mr Tuyen stressed that giving enterprises the right to define petrol prices did not mean that the State would float the market. He said that the State would still keep control over the market and petrol prices.
Oil and petrol trading companies must register price adjustments with relevant ministries, and if it finds that the price adjustment is not suitable, the ministries will ask the companies to stop their plans.
The petrol prices may go up and down, but the price increases must not exceed the price increase level of 7% set by the National Assembly.
Mr Tuyen has also announced the State would gradually reduce subsidies on diesel and mazut. It is estimated that by the end of this year, mazut oil will be priced based on the supply and demand basis, while a similar scheme for diesel will be applied in early 2008.
Source: VNE
Monday, April 23, 2007
Share prices continue slide
Ho Chi Minh City’s VN-Index shed sharply 37.70 points to close at 931.18. Hanoi’s HASTC-Index lost 44.21 points to close 321.44.
Trading volumes and turnover in HCMC fell 32% and 31% respectively to 3.4 million shares and VND425 billion (US$26 million).
There were 91 losers and only 6 gainers out of the total 109 stocks. Many blue chips like PPC, REE, PVD, KDC, FPT, SAM, and VSH were among losers to hit the lower price at 5% limit.
Other heavyweights like STB, GMD, VIP, and VNM suffered big losses, all of which lost less than 4%.
Market analysts attributed the sharp decline in the market to the massive offload among many investors who were haunted by the bourse crash.
Others took a wait-and-see attitude toward information on the ongoing two-day Vietnam Economic Forum which kicked off Monday, according to analysts.
Sacombank continued to lead the market in terms of both volumes and turnover with 572,720 shares changing hands for VND78 billion.
The mutual funds, PRUBF1 and VFMVF1 lost 0.7% and 4.9% respectively to VND13,800 and VND32,800.
Foreign investors pumped VND90 billion in 727,060 shares focusing on VNM, GMD, SJS, PVD,VFMVF1 and PRUBF1.
While they also unleashed 626,520 shares worth VND103 billion mainly PPC, FPT, SAM and KDC.
The formerly red-hot-market, HCMC, has already lost a fifth of its value in the past month alone.
The bourse is forecast to face 30% drop this year.
A market analyst from HCMC-based investment consulting firm, who wanted to remain unnamed, said to reflect the true value of stocks the market needed to fall about 50%.
Such crash would shatter thousands of punters who have spent out their savings in the market after its glittering performance last year.
Last year, the index rose by about 150%, and in the first two months of this year, it went up another 50%.
However the bullish sentiment is expected to hit the market in the near future, promoted by the country’s booming economy, which has grown by around 8% annually for the past decade.
Source: Thanh Nien
Trading volumes and turnover in HCMC fell 32% and 31% respectively to 3.4 million shares and VND425 billion (US$26 million).
There were 91 losers and only 6 gainers out of the total 109 stocks. Many blue chips like PPC, REE, PVD, KDC, FPT, SAM, and VSH were among losers to hit the lower price at 5% limit.
Other heavyweights like STB, GMD, VIP, and VNM suffered big losses, all of which lost less than 4%.
Market analysts attributed the sharp decline in the market to the massive offload among many investors who were haunted by the bourse crash.
Others took a wait-and-see attitude toward information on the ongoing two-day Vietnam Economic Forum which kicked off Monday, according to analysts.
Sacombank continued to lead the market in terms of both volumes and turnover with 572,720 shares changing hands for VND78 billion.
The mutual funds, PRUBF1 and VFMVF1 lost 0.7% and 4.9% respectively to VND13,800 and VND32,800.
Foreign investors pumped VND90 billion in 727,060 shares focusing on VNM, GMD, SJS, PVD,VFMVF1 and PRUBF1.
While they also unleashed 626,520 shares worth VND103 billion mainly PPC, FPT, SAM and KDC.
The formerly red-hot-market, HCMC, has already lost a fifth of its value in the past month alone.
The bourse is forecast to face 30% drop this year.
A market analyst from HCMC-based investment consulting firm, who wanted to remain unnamed, said to reflect the true value of stocks the market needed to fall about 50%.
Such crash would shatter thousands of punters who have spent out their savings in the market after its glittering performance last year.
Last year, the index rose by about 150%, and in the first two months of this year, it went up another 50%.
However the bullish sentiment is expected to hit the market in the near future, promoted by the country’s booming economy, which has grown by around 8% annually for the past decade.
Source: Thanh Nien
Indochina Capital buys 15% equity stake of cable firm
London-listed Indochina Capital fund has acquired a 15% stake in the local telecom cable firm Viet Han Corp in central Quang Nam Province.
Peter Ryder, director of Indochina Capital said although the value of the deal was not released, it was the first investment in Vietnam for the newly-established US$500 million Capital Vietnam Holdings, listed with the ticker symbol ICV on the London Stock Exchange.
Under contract, Capital Vietnam Holdings will assist the cable firm in developing a business strategy and offering consulting services for its listing on the local stock exchange set for year’s end.
The securities company will provide the cable firm with consultings on business re-organization, initial public offering (IPO), and services on shareholders management.
The VND225 billion company was established in 2003 by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corp, mainly producing telecom cables and optic cables.
Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings, which is structured as a closed-end investment company, isn’t just investing in equities listed on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange and over-the-counter stocks.
It will also look at private equity and potentially some derivatives and debt securities. And it can also invest in non-Vietnamese companies which have a material portion of their business or assets in Vietnam.
Indochina Capital is amongst Vietnam’s most established investment firms and an innovative leaders in growing financial markets
It manages Vietnam-focused funds with two distinct strategies in real estate and the capital markets including Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings; Indochina Land Holdings; Indochina Land Holdings 2;Mekong Securities; and Indochina Capital Advisory and Finance.
Indochina Capital has invested in real estate in Vietnam for the past 15 years, having developed or financed projects worth more than $1 billion including offices, apartments and hotels.
Source: Thanh Nien
Peter Ryder, director of Indochina Capital said although the value of the deal was not released, it was the first investment in Vietnam for the newly-established US$500 million Capital Vietnam Holdings, listed with the ticker symbol ICV on the London Stock Exchange.
Under contract, Capital Vietnam Holdings will assist the cable firm in developing a business strategy and offering consulting services for its listing on the local stock exchange set for year’s end.
The securities company will provide the cable firm with consultings on business re-organization, initial public offering (IPO), and services on shareholders management.
The VND225 billion company was established in 2003 by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Corp, mainly producing telecom cables and optic cables.
Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings, which is structured as a closed-end investment company, isn’t just investing in equities listed on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange and over-the-counter stocks.
It will also look at private equity and potentially some derivatives and debt securities. And it can also invest in non-Vietnamese companies which have a material portion of their business or assets in Vietnam.
Indochina Capital is amongst Vietnam’s most established investment firms and an innovative leaders in growing financial markets
It manages Vietnam-focused funds with two distinct strategies in real estate and the capital markets including Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings; Indochina Land Holdings; Indochina Land Holdings 2;
Indochina Capital has invested in real estate in Vietnam for the past 15 years, having developed or financed projects worth more than $1 billion including offices, apartments and hotels.
Source: Thanh Nien
April CPI to rise to 7.16%
Vietnam forecast on Monday that annual consumer price inflation in April would accelerate to 7.16% from 6.8% in March.
Preliminary consumer price index data from the General Statistics Office showed food prices this month would be 8.33% higher than in April 2006, after a rise of 8.09 in March.
The report estimated that overall prices this month would edge up 0.49% from March.
Food prices account for 42.8% of the price basket Vietnam uses to calculate inflation. The data is not seasonally adjusted.
The Finance Ministry aims to keep inflation in 2007 at less than 7%, in line with the government's goal of keeping the rate below the economic growth target of 8.5%.
The World Bank has forecast consumer prices this year would be 6.5% higher than in 2006 while the International Monetary Fund has forecast year-end inflation at 7.1%.
Source: Reuters
Preliminary consumer price index data from the General Statistics Office showed food prices this month would be 8.33% higher than in April 2006, after a rise of 8.09 in March.
The report estimated that overall prices this month would edge up 0.49% from March.
Food prices account for 42.8% of the price basket Vietnam uses to calculate inflation. The data is not seasonally adjusted.
The Finance Ministry aims to keep inflation in 2007 at less than 7%, in line with the government's goal of keeping the rate below the economic growth target of 8.5%.
The World Bank has forecast consumer prices this year would be 6.5% higher than in 2006 while the International Monetary Fund has forecast year-end inflation at 7.1%.
Source: Reuters
New decree on foreign ownership in banks
A total foreign ownership ceiling in any Vietnamese bank of 30% has been established through a new decree, issued by the Government on April 20.
The decree said that a strategic foreign investor is allowed to purchase a 15% stake in a domestic bank.
It also said that the Prime Minister, in special cases, can raise that limit for a strategic foreign investor to 20%.
Under the decree, a foreign credit institution is permitted to buy at most 10% in a domestic bank.
In case a foreign credit institution holds convertible banking bonds, which can be changed into shares, the above regulations will also be applied.
The decree also said that strategic foreign investors must wait at least five years after buying stake in the bank to resell their share.
Source: VNA
The decree said that a strategic foreign investor is allowed to purchase a 15% stake in a domestic bank.
It also said that the Prime Minister, in special cases, can raise that limit for a strategic foreign investor to 20%.
Under the decree, a foreign credit institution is permitted to buy at most 10% in a domestic bank.
In case a foreign credit institution holds convertible banking bonds, which can be changed into shares, the above regulations will also be applied.
The decree also said that strategic foreign investors must wait at least five years after buying stake in the bank to resell their share.
Source: VNA
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Vietnamese stock markets continue to dive
The VN-Index continued its decline as it closed at 968.88 points on Apr. 20, down 29.21 points against the previous session at the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre (HoSTC).
The HaSTC-Index of the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre also saw a 8.83 point decrease to 365.56.
Over 4.7 million shares worth more than 576.9 billion VND (36 million USD) were traded at the HoSTC.
Meanwhile, just 1.15 million shares worth 130.34 billion VND (8.1 million USD) were changed hands at the HaSTC.
Blue-chip shares decreased sharply with FPT down 25,000 VND each share; BMC, 21,000 VND; SJS, 11,000VND; SAM, 10,000 VND; KDC, 9,000 VND; ACB, 8,200 VND; BVS, 8,000 and NTP, 10,600 VND.
Only 11 shares listed at the HaSTC rallied for gains, 10 shares showed no change, and 62 shares endured declining prices from the previous trading session.
Many investors considered that the continuous slide of the VN-Index in recent days was a beginning a period of deep decline after a dizzy growth.
Source: VNA
The HaSTC-Index of the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre also saw a 8.83 point decrease to 365.56.
Over 4.7 million shares worth more than 576.9 billion VND (36 million USD) were traded at the HoSTC.
Meanwhile, just 1.15 million shares worth 130.34 billion VND (8.1 million USD) were changed hands at the HaSTC.
Blue-chip shares decreased sharply with FPT down 25,000 VND each share; BMC, 21,000 VND; SJS, 11,000VND; SAM, 10,000 VND; KDC, 9,000 VND; ACB, 8,200 VND; BVS, 8,000 and NTP, 10,600 VND.
Only 11 shares listed at the HaSTC rallied for gains, 10 shares showed no change, and 62 shares endured declining prices from the previous trading session.
Many investors considered that the continuous slide of the VN-Index in recent days was a beginning a period of deep decline after a dizzy growth.
Source: VNA
Public companies asked to publish financial reports
The State Securities Commission, Vietnam’s stock market watchdog, has ruled that all shareholding companies must make financial disclosures as a way of improving transparency, an official said Friday.
SSC spokesman Vu Van Quang said: "The companies must release financial reports and other key information to the public regularly or irregularly."
Less than 1 percent of 33,000 public corporations in Vietnam published key financial data, he noted.
The 195 listed companies were, however, releasing the required information.
Under new regulations issued this week, companies with a registered capital of at least VND10 billion ($625,000) and at least 100 investors have to register their stock at securities companies before July 1.
"From the third quarter, people should buy shares of unlisted companies via securities companies instead of through gray markets," Quang said.
He added that improved transparency would attract more foreign investors to buy local companies’ shares.
Traders estimate that the 33,000 unlisted public corporations have a total market capitalization of $40 billion, almost double the value of the 195 companies listed on Vietnam's two bourses.
Source: Thanh Nien
SSC spokesman Vu Van Quang said: "The companies must release financial reports and other key information to the public regularly or irregularly."
Less than 1 percent of 33,000 public corporations in Vietnam published key financial data, he noted.
The 195 listed companies were, however, releasing the required information.
Under new regulations issued this week, companies with a registered capital of at least VND10 billion ($625,000) and at least 100 investors have to register their stock at securities companies before July 1.
"From the third quarter, people should buy shares of unlisted companies via securities companies instead of through gray markets," Quang said.
He added that improved transparency would attract more foreign investors to buy local companies’ shares.
Traders estimate that the 33,000 unlisted public corporations have a total market capitalization of $40 billion, almost double the value of the 195 companies listed on Vietnam's two bourses.
Source: Thanh Nien
Sacom discusses plans to open bank
Vietnam's Cables and Telecommunication Material Co. (SAM, Sacom) is talking about setting up a bank, a Sacom official said on Friday.
If the central bank approved, the bank would be established in the northern province of Bac Ninh, the eastern neighbour of Hanoi, the official said.
"We had a meeting yesterday with others to talk about the bank establishment," he said, but declined to give further details.
On Friday, the ruling Communist Party-run Nhan Dan newspaper said Sacom was one of the four founders of the Kinh Bac Commercial Bank, which would have a registered capital of 1.5 trillion dong ($93 million).
Sacom, the Vietnam Motor Industry Corporation (Vinamotor), Lilama and Duc Giang Garment Company would account for half the shares in the bank, the report said without giving details of the share allotment.
More than 30 partly private banks are operating in Vietnam, where five state-run commercial banks account for 70% of the market's lending.
Based in the southern province of Dong Nai, Sacom initially manufactured electrical and telecommunications cables.
But in recent years it has been seeking to branch out into real estate and telecoms services.
Last year, Sacom formed a venture with Taihan Electric Wire Co. Ltd to produce power and telecom cables.
Sacom said in March it was seeking to raise funds for a $24.8-million five-star resort in the Central Highland city of Dalat, a $25-million office building in Ho Chi Minh City and to invest in a telecoms joint venture in Cambodia.
On Friday, Sacom shares fell 10,000 dong, or 4.95%, to 192,000 dong ($11.9).
Source: Reuters
If the central bank approved, the bank would be established in the northern province of Bac Ninh, the eastern neighbour of Hanoi, the official said.
"We had a meeting yesterday with others to talk about the bank establishment," he said, but declined to give further details.
On Friday, the ruling Communist Party-run Nhan Dan newspaper said Sacom was one of the four founders of the Kinh Bac Commercial Bank, which would have a registered capital of 1.5 trillion dong ($93 million).
Sacom, the Vietnam Motor Industry Corporation (Vinamotor), Lilama and Duc Giang Garment Company would account for half the shares in the bank, the report said without giving details of the share allotment.
More than 30 partly private banks are operating in Vietnam, where five state-run commercial banks account for 70% of the market's lending.
Based in the southern province of Dong Nai, Sacom initially manufactured electrical and telecommunications cables.
But in recent years it has been seeking to branch out into real estate and telecoms services.
Last year, Sacom formed a venture with Taihan Electric Wire Co. Ltd to produce power and telecom cables.
Sacom said in March it was seeking to raise funds for a $24.8-million five-star resort in the Central Highland city of Dalat, a $25-million office building in Ho Chi Minh City and to invest in a telecoms joint venture in Cambodia.
On Friday, Sacom shares fell 10,000 dong, or 4.95%, to 192,000 dong ($11.9).
Source: Reuters
Friday, April 20, 2007
Ninh Binh Thermal Power Co. raised 7.3mio US$ in IPO
A small Vietnamese power firm raised 117.11 billion dong ($7.3 million) by selling more than one third of its shares to the public, the Hanoi stock market said on Thursday.
Ninh Binh Thermal Power Company sold all 4,088,095 shares on offer, or 31.78% of the company, to Vietnamese investors at an auction on Wednesday, the exchange said in a statement. It did not disclose the identities of buyers.
The shares were sold at an average price of 28,648 dong ($1.78), nearly double the 15,000-dong initial price set for bidding, suggesting the firm was valued at nearly $23 million.
No foreign investors bought shares even though bidders sought to buy 11.58 million shares in the company, which operates a coal-fired power plant in the northern province of Ninh Binh, 90 km (55 miles) south of Hanoi.
Source: Reuters equity mekong capital vinacapital
Ninh Binh Thermal Power Company sold all 4,088,095 shares on offer, or 31.78% of the company, to Vietnamese investors at an auction on Wednesday, the exchange said in a statement. It did not disclose the identities of buyers.
The shares were sold at an average price of 28,648 dong ($1.78), nearly double the 15,000-dong initial price set for bidding, suggesting the firm was valued at nearly $23 million.
No foreign investors bought shares even though bidders sought to buy 11.58 million shares in the company, which operates a coal-fired power plant in the northern province of Ninh Binh, 90 km (55 miles) south of Hanoi.
Source: Reuters equity mekong capital vinacapital
Vietnamese shipbuilder to raise debt
A subsidiary of Vietnam's largest shipbuilding group will issue two-year corporate bonds next week to raise 200 billion dong ($12.4 million) for building vessels for export, a company statement said on Thursday.
State-run Nam Trieu Ship Industry Company, controlled by Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, would issue the domestic dong bonds on April 24, the statement said.
The debt is underwritten by Vietnamese stockbroker International Securities Co. and carries an annual coupon of 8.95%.
Given the short maturity, the debt will not be listed for trade on the main stock market , which has listed around 400 types of government bonds and convertible bonds issued by state-run Vietcombank
State-run Nam Trieu Ship Industry Company, controlled by Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, would issue the domestic dong bonds on April 24, the statement said.
The debt is underwritten by Vietnamese stockbroker International Securities Co. and carries an annual coupon of 8.95%.
Given the short maturity, the debt will not be listed for trade on the main stock market , which has listed around 400 types of government bonds and convertible bonds issued by state-run Vietcombank
Vietnam to issue more international bonds
Viet Nam will continue to issue international bonds this year to raise financing for key infrastructure projects, according to the Government Office.
The Prime Minister requested an issuance of close to US$1 billion in bonds this year to provide loans for projects, including the Dung Quat Oil Refinery, the Secaman hydro-electric power plant 3 and the Viet Nam National Shipping Lines Corporation’s ship purchase plan.
The PM assigned the Ministry of Finance to design the bond issuance and to report back on its findings at the regular cabinet meeting to be held later this month, the Office added.
The bonds are expected to have a term of 15 and 20 years.
Source: VNA
The Prime Minister requested an issuance of close to US$1 billion in bonds this year to provide loans for projects, including the Dung Quat Oil Refinery, the Secaman hydro-electric power plant 3 and the Viet Nam National Shipping Lines Corporation’s ship purchase plan.
The PM assigned the Ministry of Finance to design the bond issuance and to report back on its findings at the regular cabinet meeting to be held later this month, the Office added.
The bonds are expected to have a term of 15 and 20 years.
Source: VNA
Price band for newly listed stocks
Vietnam has imposed a 20% price band on the movement of shares on their first day of trading on the main stock exchange to prevent speculators from manipulating prices. A stock market directive seen by Reuters on Thursday said the price of shares and fund certificates could move only 20% up or down from the starting price set by the firm making its debut on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange.
The trading band ruling approved on Tuesday came ahead of a slew of new listings expected from the second quarter on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center, one of the world's fastest-growing stock markets.
Speculators, having bought shares on unregulated markets before the listing, have been taking advantage of the lack of a price band to boost a stock on its debut. Brokers said the band would help limit those gains and the wide price fluctuations.
The price band is part of a directive approved by the State Securities Commission (SSC) market watchdog. The daily trading band of 5% remains unchanged.
The directive will govern trading when the exchange switches on May 7 to continuous matching orders at one of its three daily sessions instead of matching orders at the end of each session.
"The trading band is in place to support the continuous order matching plan as without a band prices can vary widely," a senior SSC official said. "The band will help narrow the price gap".
Unlike stock markets elsewhere, Vietnamese companies conduct IPOs separately from listings, so their IPO price may not reflect the firm's value by the time it makes its exchange debut.
Le Hai Tra, deputy director of the market, told local media that eventually Vietnam would follow international practice and permit corporate IPOs and listings to be made at the same time.
The SSC official declined to comment when asked if the authorities planned more curbs to better manage the stock market, which economists and analysts say is over-heated. The index has risen 33% this year after growing 145% in 2006.
Earlier this year, investors were concerned that Vietnam may impose capital controls to cool the market, but the government said it would not do so.
The watchdog said it wanted to reduce the size of the unregulated markets to protect investors from risks.
It has asked public companies to register with the market regulator and make any announcement via stock market authorities.
Source: Thanh Nien
The trading band ruling approved on Tuesday came ahead of a slew of new listings expected from the second quarter on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center, one of the world's fastest-growing stock markets.
Speculators, having bought shares on unregulated markets before the listing, have been taking advantage of the lack of a price band to boost a stock on its debut. Brokers said the band would help limit those gains and the wide price fluctuations.
The price band is part of a directive approved by the State Securities Commission (SSC) market watchdog. The daily trading band of 5% remains unchanged.
The directive will govern trading when the exchange switches on May 7 to continuous matching orders at one of its three daily sessions instead of matching orders at the end of each session.
"The trading band is in place to support the continuous order matching plan as without a band prices can vary widely," a senior SSC official said. "The band will help narrow the price gap".
Unlike stock markets elsewhere, Vietnamese companies conduct IPOs separately from listings, so their IPO price may not reflect the firm's value by the time it makes its exchange debut.
Le Hai Tra, deputy director of the market, told local media that eventually Vietnam would follow international practice and permit corporate IPOs and listings to be made at the same time.
The SSC official declined to comment when asked if the authorities planned more curbs to better manage the stock market, which economists and analysts say is over-heated. The index has risen 33% this year after growing 145% in 2006.
Earlier this year, investors were concerned that Vietnam may impose capital controls to cool the market, but the government said it would not do so.
The watchdog said it wanted to reduce the size of the unregulated markets to protect investors from risks.
It has asked public companies to register with the market regulator and make any announcement via stock market authorities.
Source: Thanh Nien
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Vietnam MobiFone tenders for equitization advisor
Vietnam's second-largest mobile phone firm, MobiFone, said Wednesday it would pick a consultant next month to advise on its equitization, the first move in the restructuring of the telecommunications industry.
The Hanoi-based firm, owned by Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications group (VNPT), said in a statement it would open an international tender to choose the consultant.
MobiFone, the short name for Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Co., gave no further details, but said candidates must submit their bids by May 16.
MobiFone, which uses GSM technology, has yet to announce a timetable for the IPO or its listing, but the company, along with number one mobile phone firm Vinaphone is expected to list by the end of 2007.
It added 2.5 million subscribers last year, taking its total customers to 6.5 million, a rise of 60% from 2005.
The number then expanded another 30.8% in the first quarter of this year to 8.5 million, the company said.
Vietnam, whose economy grows around 8% a year, had 27.5 million telephones at the end of 2006, a rise of nearly 80% from 2005, with mobile phones accounting for 69%.
Source: Thanh Nien
The Hanoi-based firm, owned by Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications group (VNPT), said in a statement it would open an international tender to choose the consultant.
MobiFone, the short name for Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Co., gave no further details, but said candidates must submit their bids by May 16.
MobiFone, which uses GSM technology, has yet to announce a timetable for the IPO or its listing, but the company, along with number one mobile phone firm Vinaphone is expected to list by the end of 2007.
It added 2.5 million subscribers last year, taking its total customers to 6.5 million, a rise of 60% from 2005.
The number then expanded another 30.8% in the first quarter of this year to 8.5 million, the company said.
Vietnam, whose economy grows around 8% a year, had 27.5 million telephones at the end of 2006, a rise of nearly 80% from 2005, with mobile phones accounting for 69%.
Source: Thanh Nien
Bao Minh expects revenue increase by 10%
Vietnamese insurer Bao Minh Insurance Corp. (BMI @ HaSTC)said Wednesday it expected a 9.5% rise in revenues this year to VND1.59 trillion ($98.6 million).
The company, one of the country's two listed insurers, also expected its net profit to rise 10% to VND110 billion ($6.8 million) this year from 2006, Bao Minh president Tran Vinh Duc said in a statement.
The firm would issue 32.1 million new shares to raise its chartered capital to VND755 billion ($47 million) later this year from VND434 billion ($27 million) now, Duc said.
He said 12.57 million of the new shares would be sold to unspecified strategic foreign investors at a price to be negotiated.
On Wednesday, shares in Bao Minh jumped 9.94% to close at VND165,900 ($10.3) on the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center.
The Hanoi exchange said on Tuesday that Bao Viet, the country's top insurance firm, would sell 8.74% of its shares in its initial public offering on May 17.
Source: Thanh Nien
The company, one of the country's two listed insurers, also expected its net profit to rise 10% to VND110 billion ($6.8 million) this year from 2006, Bao Minh president Tran Vinh Duc said in a statement.
The firm would issue 32.1 million new shares to raise its chartered capital to VND755 billion ($47 million) later this year from VND434 billion ($27 million) now, Duc said.
He said 12.57 million of the new shares would be sold to unspecified strategic foreign investors at a price to be negotiated.
On Wednesday, shares in Bao Minh jumped 9.94% to close at VND165,900 ($10.3) on the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center.
The Hanoi exchange said on Tuesday that Bao Viet, the country's top insurance firm, would sell 8.74% of its shares in its initial public offering on May 17.
Source: Thanh Nien
New security brokers target niche markets
Four new brokerages houses were licensed last week to participate in trading with the HCM City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC), with bourse officials predicting that the broker’s club would grow even larger in the near future to meet the demand of stock market traders.
The VPBank Securities Co was the largest of the four new brokerages, with a chartered capital of VND50 billion (US$3.1 million).
The managers of the company said that it would provide customers with the best services in securities including consultancy, share custody, and underwriting, from the professional staff certified by the State Securities Commission.
Sao Viet Securities Co, with VND20 billion ($1.25 million) in chartered capital, also joined the HCM City bourse. Its management board chairman, Vu Hong Su, said the company already had 3,000 clients. Its highest potential market for new clients were real estate investors looking to diversify in the stock market, as one of Sao Viet’s founding shareholders was a real estate development company.
He also added that the company was co-operating with Southern Bank to provide customers with payment services and securities analysis. The company planned to co-operate with the foreign partners to support domestic investors in advanced techniques in securities trading.
The Bien Viet Securities Co was expected to lure clients from its strategic shareholders, the Viet Nam Tea Corporation, which contributed 21 per cent of its chartered capital.
Tam Nhin Securities Co has chosen overseas Vietnamese as its target client base, said general director Luu Tuong Bach.
According to Huy Nam, a securities analyst, each of the new brokerage houses comes to the trading floor with specific advantages, contributing to the development of the Vietnamese stock market and opening more opportunities for investors to participate in trading.
Source: VNS
The VPBank Securities Co was the largest of the four new brokerages, with a chartered capital of VND50 billion (US$3.1 million).
The managers of the company said that it would provide customers with the best services in securities including consultancy, share custody, and underwriting, from the professional staff certified by the State Securities Commission.
Sao Viet Securities Co, with VND20 billion ($1.25 million) in chartered capital, also joined the HCM City bourse. Its management board chairman, Vu Hong Su, said the company already had 3,000 clients. Its highest potential market for new clients were real estate investors looking to diversify in the stock market, as one of Sao Viet’s founding shareholders was a real estate development company.
He also added that the company was co-operating with Southern Bank to provide customers with payment services and securities analysis. The company planned to co-operate with the foreign partners to support domestic investors in advanced techniques in securities trading.
The Bien Viet Securities Co was expected to lure clients from its strategic shareholders, the Viet Nam Tea Corporation, which contributed 21 per cent of its chartered capital.
Tam Nhin Securities Co has chosen overseas Vietnamese as its target client base, said general director Luu Tuong Bach.
According to Huy Nam, a securities analyst, each of the new brokerage houses comes to the trading floor with specific advantages, contributing to the development of the Vietnamese stock market and opening more opportunities for investors to participate in trading.
Source: VNS
BIDV to select two foreign strategic partners prior equitisation
The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) expects to select two multinational financial institutions as its strategic partners following equitisation, said Tran Anh Tuan, deputy general director at a press conference yesterday.
BIDV was expected to announce its strategic partners by September of this year, Tuan said, prior to mounting its IPO in the fourth quarter.
"The Government does not want us to select domestic institutions as strategic partners for BIDV as BIDV needs overseas experienced financial institutions to consult with the bank on technology, training and governance," said BIDV’s CEO Tran Bac Ha.
"I also think, to some extent, that foreign strategic partners are better," Ha added.
"The prices of shares to be sold to our strategic partners will be negotiated," Tuan noted, "although these prices must be at least equal to or higher than those offered in our IPO."
"We will list shares with Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre," said Ha. "It is very hard for me or other senior officials of BIDV to predict the prices of shares right now. Prices will depend on the market and on the attitude of investors."
A single foreign investor can hold only up to 10% of the shares in a domestic bank, although the State Bank of Viet Nam is revising a regulatory framework that allows a single foreign entity to hold up to 20% in a local bank. Total foreign ownership in a single bank is capped at 30%.
"I don’t think it will be necessary to sell out a 30% stake all at one time," Tuan said. "We will submit to the Government a detailed plan on selling shares."
As BIDV moves closer to equitising this year, several finalists have emerged in its search for a foreign consultant to guide the bank through the process. In the running as of last week were investment bankers such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS. BIDV was expected to name a consultant by June.
"We are trying our best to guarantee the interests of the State in the equitisation progress as many have expressed concern that the State could love interest in the phase of asset appraisal," said Tuan.
"We have drawn some lessons from the asset appraisals of Vietcombank and the Mekong Housing Bank, both of which faced many challenges for over a year in appraising the value of their assets."
The previous measure of determining the worth of the bank based on the value of existing assets would not be applied to BIDV, said BIDV deputy general director Le Dao Nguyen.
According to financial statements audited by Ernst & Young and based on International Financial Ratio Standards (IFRS), BIDV had total assets of VND158.22 trillion ($9.89 billion) at the end of 2006, up 34% on the previous year.
Last Thursday, Moody’s raised the credit capacity outlook of BIDV from ‘E’ to ‘E+’. The bank’s local currency rating remained at ‘Ba1 level’ and foreign currency deposit ratings also stood at ‘B1’.
Source: VNS
BIDV was expected to announce its strategic partners by September of this year, Tuan said, prior to mounting its IPO in the fourth quarter.
"The Government does not want us to select domestic institutions as strategic partners for BIDV as BIDV needs overseas experienced financial institutions to consult with the bank on technology, training and governance," said BIDV’s CEO Tran Bac Ha.
"I also think, to some extent, that foreign strategic partners are better," Ha added.
"The prices of shares to be sold to our strategic partners will be negotiated," Tuan noted, "although these prices must be at least equal to or higher than those offered in our IPO."
"We will list shares with Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre," said Ha. "It is very hard for me or other senior officials of BIDV to predict the prices of shares right now. Prices will depend on the market and on the attitude of investors."
A single foreign investor can hold only up to 10% of the shares in a domestic bank, although the State Bank of Viet Nam is revising a regulatory framework that allows a single foreign entity to hold up to 20% in a local bank. Total foreign ownership in a single bank is capped at 30%.
"I don’t think it will be necessary to sell out a 30% stake all at one time," Tuan said. "We will submit to the Government a detailed plan on selling shares."
As BIDV moves closer to equitising this year, several finalists have emerged in its search for a foreign consultant to guide the bank through the process. In the running as of last week were investment bankers such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS. BIDV was expected to name a consultant by June.
"We are trying our best to guarantee the interests of the State in the equitisation progress as many have expressed concern that the State could love interest in the phase of asset appraisal," said Tuan.
"We have drawn some lessons from the asset appraisals of Vietcombank and the Mekong Housing Bank, both of which faced many challenges for over a year in appraising the value of their assets."
The previous measure of determining the worth of the bank based on the value of existing assets would not be applied to BIDV, said BIDV deputy general director Le Dao Nguyen.
According to financial statements audited by Ernst & Young and based on International Financial Ratio Standards (IFRS), BIDV had total assets of VND158.22 trillion ($9.89 billion) at the end of 2006, up 34% on the previous year.
Last Thursday, Moody’s raised the credit capacity outlook of BIDV from ‘E’ to ‘E+’. The bank’s local currency rating remained at ‘Ba1 level’ and foreign currency deposit ratings also stood at ‘B1’.
Source: VNS
Retail banking - an attractive business
Retail banking, which remains not fully exploited so far in Vietnam, is expected to become more bustling in the near future, especially when foreign bankers land in the market.
Director General of the Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) Nguyen Duc Vinh said that a lot of people among the 84mil Vietnamese people had demands for retail banking services. However, retail banking services have not developed in Vietnam.
According to Dr Nguyen Dai Lai, Deputy Director of the Banking Development Strategy Department, in developed countries, a bank can provide 1,000 banking products, while a Vietnamese bank can provide several tens to 100 types of services at maximum. The income from retail banking in Vietnamese banks accounts for 6-12% of the total turnover, while the ratio is some 50% in developed countries.
Mr Lai has stressed that the weakness and shortcomings of Vietnamese banks themselves are the culprits that prolong the existence of the cash economy.
In fact, domestic banks have been aware of the importance of developing retail banking services.
They have been trying to make heavy investment in retail banking development by opening many more branches. In addition, banks have spent a lot of money on core banking software and information technology items. They have also made every effort to push up the development of ATM systems, Internet Banking, Phone Banking and Home Banking.
Deputy Director General of the Bank for Development and Investment of Vietnam Le Dao Nguyen said that since 2006 the bank had considered retail banking development as its priority task.
In 2006, the net earning from services of the bank was reportedly VND520bil, up by 74% over 2005. The growth rate of 84% has been set up for this year; it is to be obtained mostly from modern retail banking services.
In general, the banking services provided by domestic banks prove to be backward and poor. Most banks are not providing services ‘over the counter’ while there is no self-service system.
Local banks now have different retail banking services, but they do not cooperate with each other. For example, big commercial banks all try to develop their ATM networks, but they cannot find a common voice to develop a single network, which can help reduce investment expenses.
Moreover, it is quite surprising that it still takes several days to remit money from one province to another while it takes just several hours to remit money from a foreign country to Vietnam.
Meanwhile, local banks have blamed the current situation on the lack of a legal framework for retail banking services to develop.
An official from the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank) said that the currently applied legal documents stipulated manual transaction procedures, which require too much time to follow. Commercial banks always have to ask for permission from the central bank and have to wait for a long time if they want to launch a new banking product onto the market.
Experts are right when saying that an unexploited market means a potential market. That explains why foreign bankers are eyeing Vietnam’s retail banking market.
HSBC, Citibank and ANZ have announced their plans to conquer Vietnam’s retail banking market. When the author of the story called HSBC to ask about the formalities to get a loan for the purchasing of a house in installments, a HSBC staff said firmly that the bank would make the loan accessible for him.
Meanwhile, when contacting a domestic bank with the same question, the author was told he would need to fill in 10 different kinds of papers.
Source: VNE
Director General of the Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) Nguyen Duc Vinh said that a lot of people among the 84mil Vietnamese people had demands for retail banking services. However, retail banking services have not developed in Vietnam.
According to Dr Nguyen Dai Lai, Deputy Director of the Banking Development Strategy Department, in developed countries, a bank can provide 1,000 banking products, while a Vietnamese bank can provide several tens to 100 types of services at maximum. The income from retail banking in Vietnamese banks accounts for 6-12% of the total turnover, while the ratio is some 50% in developed countries.
Mr Lai has stressed that the weakness and shortcomings of Vietnamese banks themselves are the culprits that prolong the existence of the cash economy.
In fact, domestic banks have been aware of the importance of developing retail banking services.
They have been trying to make heavy investment in retail banking development by opening many more branches. In addition, banks have spent a lot of money on core banking software and information technology items. They have also made every effort to push up the development of ATM systems, Internet Banking, Phone Banking and Home Banking.
Deputy Director General of the Bank for Development and Investment of Vietnam Le Dao Nguyen said that since 2006 the bank had considered retail banking development as its priority task.
In 2006, the net earning from services of the bank was reportedly VND520bil, up by 74% over 2005. The growth rate of 84% has been set up for this year; it is to be obtained mostly from modern retail banking services.
In general, the banking services provided by domestic banks prove to be backward and poor. Most banks are not providing services ‘over the counter’ while there is no self-service system.
Local banks now have different retail banking services, but they do not cooperate with each other. For example, big commercial banks all try to develop their ATM networks, but they cannot find a common voice to develop a single network, which can help reduce investment expenses.
Moreover, it is quite surprising that it still takes several days to remit money from one province to another while it takes just several hours to remit money from a foreign country to Vietnam.
Meanwhile, local banks have blamed the current situation on the lack of a legal framework for retail banking services to develop.
An official from the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank) said that the currently applied legal documents stipulated manual transaction procedures, which require too much time to follow. Commercial banks always have to ask for permission from the central bank and have to wait for a long time if they want to launch a new banking product onto the market.
Experts are right when saying that an unexploited market means a potential market. That explains why foreign bankers are eyeing Vietnam’s retail banking market.
HSBC, Citibank and ANZ have announced their plans to conquer Vietnam’s retail banking market. When the author of the story called HSBC to ask about the formalities to get a loan for the purchasing of a house in installments, a HSBC staff said firmly that the bank would make the loan accessible for him.
Meanwhile, when contacting a domestic bank with the same question, the author was told he would need to fill in 10 different kinds of papers.
Source: VNE
Target of $48.7bil for export turnover unrealistic?
The Ministry of Trade (MoT) has warned that the target of $48.7bil in export turnover may be unreachable due to the lack of products for exports.
According to MoT, by the end of the first quarter of 2007, Vietnam had exported 710,000 tonnes, earning $230mil, a decrease of 43.3% in quantity and 33% in turnover compared to the same period last year. The figures reveal that only 15.7% of the targeted volume and 17% of the targeted turnover have been fulfilled.
Rice exporters said that the low rice stocks since 2006 and the inflexible mechanism on rice pricing set up by the Vietnam Food Association (Vietfood) have caused big difficulties for them. Vietfood has set up regulating price levels, strongly recommending that its members do not to sign contracts at prices lower than the regulating levels.
MOT has forecast that the rice price in the world’s market will be firm by the end of the second quarter of 2007 since the demand for rice imports is increasing from many countries. Vietnamese enterprises plan to deliver 1.4mil tonnes in the second quarter, a low volume.
The taskforce on rice export regulation has agreed to raise exports by 200,000 tonnes, and speed up the export pace in April and the first half of May in order to keep the domestic paddy price at an acceptably high level.
“This would be an opportunity for enterprises to rehabilitate exports,” said Pham The Dung, Head of the Import – Export Department under the Ministry of Trade.
With the total coffee exports of 482,000 tonnes and export turnover of $697mil in the first three months of the year, coffee exports saw an increase of 133% over the same period last year, fulfilling 68% of the yearly plan.
This was the only instance when Vietnam saw such a record growth rate in the first three months. But MoT has warned that exports in the coming quarters may decrease after the overly high exports in the first quarter.
Van Thanh Huy, Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said that Vietnam’s coffee would still go for a good price as the world’s demand is increasingly high. However, Mr Huy also said that the quality of exported coffee would remain a problem.
The same warning has also been given to the seafood industry. Export prices and markets proved to be very satisfactory for exporters in the first three months ($679 million, up by 11.9% over last year). However, if Vietnamese enterprises cannot improve the quality of seafood exports, the targeted $3.8bil turnover cannot be reached.
MoT has decided that apparel exports will gain the turnover of $2bil higher than last year’s level at $5.8bil. If not, the master export programme for 2007 will not be fulfilled.
However, apparel exporters are facing big difficulties exporting to the US as the country is kicking off the Vietnamese apparel import monitory programme.
Enterprises said that their clients were now tending not to place orders for the last months of the year for fear of anti-dumping activities. A member of the HCM City Textile, Garment, and Embroidery Association (Agtek) said that the door to the US market, the main export market for Vietnam, had been considerably narrowed.
Source: VNE
According to MoT, by the end of the first quarter of 2007, Vietnam had exported 710,000 tonnes, earning $230mil, a decrease of 43.3% in quantity and 33% in turnover compared to the same period last year. The figures reveal that only 15.7% of the targeted volume and 17% of the targeted turnover have been fulfilled.
Rice exporters said that the low rice stocks since 2006 and the inflexible mechanism on rice pricing set up by the Vietnam Food Association (Vietfood) have caused big difficulties for them. Vietfood has set up regulating price levels, strongly recommending that its members do not to sign contracts at prices lower than the regulating levels.
MOT has forecast that the rice price in the world’s market will be firm by the end of the second quarter of 2007 since the demand for rice imports is increasing from many countries. Vietnamese enterprises plan to deliver 1.4mil tonnes in the second quarter, a low volume.
The taskforce on rice export regulation has agreed to raise exports by 200,000 tonnes, and speed up the export pace in April and the first half of May in order to keep the domestic paddy price at an acceptably high level.
“This would be an opportunity for enterprises to rehabilitate exports,” said Pham The Dung, Head of the Import – Export Department under the Ministry of Trade.
With the total coffee exports of 482,000 tonnes and export turnover of $697mil in the first three months of the year, coffee exports saw an increase of 133% over the same period last year, fulfilling 68% of the yearly plan.
This was the only instance when Vietnam saw such a record growth rate in the first three months. But MoT has warned that exports in the coming quarters may decrease after the overly high exports in the first quarter.
Van Thanh Huy, Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said that Vietnam’s coffee would still go for a good price as the world’s demand is increasingly high. However, Mr Huy also said that the quality of exported coffee would remain a problem.
The same warning has also been given to the seafood industry. Export prices and markets proved to be very satisfactory for exporters in the first three months ($679 million, up by 11.9% over last year). However, if Vietnamese enterprises cannot improve the quality of seafood exports, the targeted $3.8bil turnover cannot be reached.
MoT has decided that apparel exports will gain the turnover of $2bil higher than last year’s level at $5.8bil. If not, the master export programme for 2007 will not be fulfilled.
However, apparel exporters are facing big difficulties exporting to the US as the country is kicking off the Vietnamese apparel import monitory programme.
Enterprises said that their clients were now tending not to place orders for the last months of the year for fear of anti-dumping activities. A member of the HCM City Textile, Garment, and Embroidery Association (Agtek) said that the door to the US market, the main export market for Vietnam, had been considerably narrowed.
Source: VNE
VinaCapital to build resort in Hoi An
VinaCapital Hoi An Resort, a company that was just launched last Saturday, announced plans to build the US$16-million Hoi An Royal Bay Resort.
The company is a joint venture between Onshine Investment Ltd under the VinaCapital Group and Sai Thanh International Investment and Tourism JSC (STI).
The developers hope to turn the resort into a five-star facility, covering 7.3ha in Dien Ban District, Quang Nam Province.
The resort will have 100 small villas, swimming pools, restaurants, clubs and offer an array of services.
Nguyen Duc Tri, STI general director, said that three-months after receiving an investment licence, the project was approved by the Quang Nam Construction Department, opening the way for the company to begin clearing land for construction.
Le Minh Phuc, VinaCapital Hoi An general director, said construction of the resort will begin this year and be completed within 30 months. Executives hope to begin welcoming guests in 2009.
On Saturday, VinaCapital also signed a management service agreement for the Hoi An Royal Bay Resort with Accor, a leading international hotel management company.
Source: VNS
The company is a joint venture between Onshine Investment Ltd under the VinaCapital Group and Sai Thanh International Investment and Tourism JSC (STI).
The developers hope to turn the resort into a five-star facility, covering 7.3ha in Dien Ban District, Quang Nam Province.
The resort will have 100 small villas, swimming pools, restaurants, clubs and offer an array of services.
Nguyen Duc Tri, STI general director, said that three-months after receiving an investment licence, the project was approved by the Quang Nam Construction Department, opening the way for the company to begin clearing land for construction.
Le Minh Phuc, VinaCapital Hoi An general director, said construction of the resort will begin this year and be completed within 30 months. Executives hope to begin welcoming guests in 2009.
On Saturday, VinaCapital also signed a management service agreement for the Hoi An Royal Bay Resort with Accor, a leading international hotel management company.
Source: VNS
Small investors to be discriminated?
In a letter to the State Securities Commission (SSC) on Monday, the Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) urged HCM City bourse regulators not to bar investors from placing an order of less than 100 shares, as it would discriminate against small investors.
The bourse’s new policy would discourage small players from diversifying their portfolios, in affect putting them at higher financial risk, VAFI argued.
The HCM City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC) plans to exercise automatic order matching beginning May 7, requiring all orders to be at least 100 shares, instead of the current 10. The policy is aimed at preventing the trading system from overloading.
Orders for less than 100 shares account for 14 per cent of the daily trading volume, but only 1 per cent of the value, according to the HSTC.
The policy is a temporary measure to prevent the trading system from overloading. Regulators plan to return to the current minimum share order limit when the infrastructure can accomodate small trades.
VAFI is urging market regulators to instead increase the trading system’s capacity while still allowing small orders to be executed.
Source: VNS
The bourse’s new policy would discourage small players from diversifying their portfolios, in affect putting them at higher financial risk, VAFI argued.
The HCM City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC) plans to exercise automatic order matching beginning May 7, requiring all orders to be at least 100 shares, instead of the current 10. The policy is aimed at preventing the trading system from overloading.
Orders for less than 100 shares account for 14 per cent of the daily trading volume, but only 1 per cent of the value, according to the HSTC.
The policy is a temporary measure to prevent the trading system from overloading. Regulators plan to return to the current minimum share order limit when the infrastructure can accomodate small trades.
VAFI is urging market regulators to instead increase the trading system’s capacity while still allowing small orders to be executed.
Source: VNS
TigerInvest launches M&A services
The Viet Nam Financial Investment Joint Stock Company (TigerInvest) made its debut in Ha Noi on April 18. The new company will focus on mergers and acquisitions and has opened an online transaction floor for the purpose.
The transaction floor will enable buyers to seek investment opportunities with companies that wish to sell or transfer their businesses or projects.
"We expect that the number of businesses participating on the transaction floor will reach 500 in the first three months and double that by the end of this year,” TigerInvest CEO Phan Xuan Can said.
He also said that so far, more than 100 businesses, both domestic and foreign, have registered for operating on the transaction floor.
Most investment demand focuses on the areas of thermo-electric power, real estate, healthcare and resort development, he added.
The same day, TigerInvest signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Dai Duong Commercial Joint Stock Bank and the TCK Group Ltd. of the UK.
Source: VNA
The transaction floor will enable buyers to seek investment opportunities with companies that wish to sell or transfer their businesses or projects.
"We expect that the number of businesses participating on the transaction floor will reach 500 in the first three months and double that by the end of this year,” TigerInvest CEO Phan Xuan Can said.
He also said that so far, more than 100 businesses, both domestic and foreign, have registered for operating on the transaction floor.
Most investment demand focuses on the areas of thermo-electric power, real estate, healthcare and resort development, he added.
The same day, TigerInvest signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Dai Duong Commercial Joint Stock Bank and the TCK Group Ltd. of the UK.
Source: VNA
FPT wins Cisco award
FPT Information System, a subsidiary of the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology, has been named as Cisco’s Enterprise Partner of the Year in Asia (except China and India).
The company was selected as it posted a significant growth rate of 69% year on year, perfect customer satisfaction rating and high service attached rate. Besides, FPT IS was also recognised for technology investment and having collaborative strategic planning with Cisco.
FPT IS’s achievement demonstrates its ability to offer world class systems integration services and is a culmination of years of commitment and investment in training and support, said James Chia, General Director for Cisco Viet Nam at the award presenting ceremony held in Ha Noi on April 18.
Meanwhile, FPT IS General Director Do Cao Bao said that the award is a positive sign of the progress that his company and Viet Nam as a whole is making in the world of information technology.
Source: VNA
The company was selected as it posted a significant growth rate of 69% year on year, perfect customer satisfaction rating and high service attached rate. Besides, FPT IS was also recognised for technology investment and having collaborative strategic planning with Cisco.
FPT IS’s achievement demonstrates its ability to offer world class systems integration services and is a culmination of years of commitment and investment in training and support, said James Chia, General Director for Cisco Viet Nam at the award presenting ceremony held in Ha Noi on April 18.
Meanwhile, FPT IS General Director Do Cao Bao said that the award is a positive sign of the progress that his company and Viet Nam as a whole is making in the world of information technology.
Source: VNA
IPOs of largest Vietnamese breweries approved
On Wednesday, the government said it had approved the privatisation of the country's two largest brewers, Sabeco and Habeco, which analysts said would attract strong demand.
Source: Reuters
Source: Reuters
Bargain hunters push VN-Index over 1000 points
Vietnam's main stock index rose 3.66% on Wednesday to close at 1,001.12 points, stemming a week-long slide as investors sought bargains.
The VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center is still 14.5% below its lifetime high of 1,170.67 points on March 12. It started falling from 1,033.92 points on April 6.
"Many well-financed investors have returned to the market to look for reasonably priced stocks with positive earning performances in the first quarter and good forecasts for the rest of the year," a Habubank Securities analyst said in Hanoi.
Shares in 102 of the 107 companies listed on the exchange rose on Wednesday, figures from the market showed.
Shares in the second-largest listed firm, dairy product maker Vinamilk (VNM), rose nearly 4.7% to 179,000 dong ($11.1). The company said this week its quarterly net profit jumped nearly 66% to $20 million.
Shares in PV Drilling (PVD), the services arm of state oil monopoly Petrovietnam, rose nearly 4% to 236,000 dong ($14.6), but are still nearly 24% below a year high of 310,000 dong.
The company, which operates offshore oil rigs for Petrovietnam, said last week its revenues this year should rise 70.5% to $143 million on the back of strong demand for rigs.
Shares in FPT (FPT), the largest listed company, rose nearly 1% to 520,000 dong ($32.26), or 22% below their year high of 665,000 dong.
Analysts said the index, which rose 144.5% in 2006, would hover around the psychological level of 1,000 points in the second quarter as investors switched to growth stocks to be auctioned by the government this year, including shares in big state banks, insurance and telecom companies.
Source: Reuters
The VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center is still 14.5% below its lifetime high of 1,170.67 points on March 12. It started falling from 1,033.92 points on April 6.
"Many well-financed investors have returned to the market to look for reasonably priced stocks with positive earning performances in the first quarter and good forecasts for the rest of the year," a Habubank Securities analyst said in Hanoi.
Shares in 102 of the 107 companies listed on the exchange rose on Wednesday, figures from the market showed.
Shares in the second-largest listed firm, dairy product maker Vinamilk (VNM), rose nearly 4.7% to 179,000 dong ($11.1). The company said this week its quarterly net profit jumped nearly 66% to $20 million.
Shares in PV Drilling (PVD), the services arm of state oil monopoly Petrovietnam, rose nearly 4% to 236,000 dong ($14.6), but are still nearly 24% below a year high of 310,000 dong.
The company, which operates offshore oil rigs for Petrovietnam, said last week its revenues this year should rise 70.5% to $143 million on the back of strong demand for rigs.
Shares in FPT (FPT), the largest listed company, rose nearly 1% to 520,000 dong ($32.26), or 22% below their year high of 665,000 dong.
Analysts said the index, which rose 144.5% in 2006, would hover around the psychological level of 1,000 points in the second quarter as investors switched to growth stocks to be auctioned by the government this year, including shares in big state banks, insurance and telecom companies.
Source: Reuters
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Vietnam to auction $43.4 mln bonds next week
Vietnam will auction five-year government bonds next week to raise 700 billion dong ($43.4 million), the Hanoi stock market said on Tuesday.
The bonds would be issued on April 25, with a maturity on April 25, 2012, a market statement said.
At the previous auction on Apr. 9, the annual coupon on the 700-billion dong government bond sold to four investors edged up to 7% from a record low of 6.5% last month.
The government has so far this year raised 2.16 trillion dong ($134 million) worth of five-year bonds at four auctions in the Hanoi market, or 54% of the debt on offer, with coupons ranging between 6.5% and 7.62%.
Source: Reuters
The bonds would be issued on April 25, with a maturity on April 25, 2012, a market statement said.
At the previous auction on Apr. 9, the annual coupon on the 700-billion dong government bond sold to four investors edged up to 7% from a record low of 6.5% last month.
The government has so far this year raised 2.16 trillion dong ($134 million) worth of five-year bonds at four auctions in the Hanoi market, or 54% of the debt on offer, with coupons ranging between 6.5% and 7.62%.
Source: Reuters
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Petrol station operator expects 10% revenue increase this year
Vietnamese petrol station operator Comeco (COM) said on Tuesday it expected a 10% rise in revenues this year to 1.88 trillion dong ($116.8 million) on strong demand.
The firm, which operates trucking services for oil products and 32 filling stations in Ho Chi Minh City, said in a statement its net profit should increase 5% from last year to 12.85 billion dong ($800,000).
Comeco Chief Executive Truong Duc Hanh said in the statement the company would invest 126.6 billion dong ($7.86 million) to build a 40,400 cubic metre capacity oil depot this year in Dong Nai province, near Ho Chi Minh City.
The company would also develop an oil terminal in Dong Nai to accomodate tankers of up to 25,000 dead weight tonnes.
It would raise between 100 billion and 150 billion dong ($6.2 million - $9.3 million) from new share issues to finance the oil depot, Hanh said.
Shares in Comeco fell nearly 4.7% to close at 61,500 dong ($3.82) on Tuesday. They have fallen more than 28% from a year-high of 86,000 dong ($5.34).
Source: Reuters
Administrative procedures still problems
More than three months since Vietnam officially realised its WTO commitments, the worries of companies about unofficial costs and internal barriers for business still exist.
A recent survey by the Institute for Legal Sciences of the Ministry of Justice reveals that nearly 98% of interviewed enterprises said that the state should continue speeding up administrative reforms.
Two-thirds of them complained that red-tape in land was the most troublesome, followed by formalities in construction licencing (43.3%) and tax (39.5%).
The Hanoi Commercial and Industrial Association has recently made public its survey, in which 89% of interviewed companies said that they still negotiated and went through taxmen though Hanoi initiated the model in which companies declare, pay and take responsibility for taxes themselves on January 1, 2007. Most companies asked for changes in tax regulations.
Many economic and judicial experts expressed their worry about slow administrative reforms at a workshop on administrative and enterprise reforms held in HCM City last Saturday.
Director of the Trade Information Centre under the Ministry of Trade, Pham Tat Thang, recognised that the state had created a good environment for Vietnamese companies and their products to go to the world market in a new position. The local market is open but still retains its stability and helps local companies to raise their competitiveness.
However, according to Mr Thang, looking at the competitiveness between governments, particularly in national administrative reforms, Vietnam has done little compared to the demand of the time and the expectation of businessmen and Vietnamese people.
“When issuing regulations, many ministries still want to intensify their power, not do this for the interests of businesses and the people,” Mr Thang emphasised.
To establish a company, investors still have to go through three ministries, five stages, which take them at least 35 days and over VND3 million. Many rational petitions of businesses are still being considered.
Vice Chairperson of the Institute for Legal Sciences Le Hong Hanh said that the biggest hindrance of businesses was conditional business and licences.
Research by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) shows that of 37 types of licences, five don’t have enough and 19 see problems associated with legal foundation.
“This proves that some sectors have created supplementary power for themselves,” Ms Hanh said.
Even when a business wants to go bankrupt, it still has to fulfill a lot of formalities.
Source: VNN
A recent survey by the Institute for Legal Sciences of the Ministry of Justice reveals that nearly 98% of interviewed enterprises said that the state should continue speeding up administrative reforms.
Two-thirds of them complained that red-tape in land was the most troublesome, followed by formalities in construction licencing (43.3%) and tax (39.5%).
The Hanoi Commercial and Industrial Association has recently made public its survey, in which 89% of interviewed companies said that they still negotiated and went through taxmen though Hanoi initiated the model in which companies declare, pay and take responsibility for taxes themselves on January 1, 2007. Most companies asked for changes in tax regulations.
Many economic and judicial experts expressed their worry about slow administrative reforms at a workshop on administrative and enterprise reforms held in HCM City last Saturday.
Director of the Trade Information Centre under the Ministry of Trade, Pham Tat Thang, recognised that the state had created a good environment for Vietnamese companies and their products to go to the world market in a new position. The local market is open but still retains its stability and helps local companies to raise their competitiveness.
However, according to Mr Thang, looking at the competitiveness between governments, particularly in national administrative reforms, Vietnam has done little compared to the demand of the time and the expectation of businessmen and Vietnamese people.
“When issuing regulations, many ministries still want to intensify their power, not do this for the interests of businesses and the people,” Mr Thang emphasised.
To establish a company, investors still have to go through three ministries, five stages, which take them at least 35 days and over VND3 million. Many rational petitions of businesses are still being considered.
Vice Chairperson of the Institute for Legal Sciences Le Hong Hanh said that the biggest hindrance of businesses was conditional business and licences.
Research by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) shows that of 37 types of licences, five don’t have enough and 19 see problems associated with legal foundation.
“This proves that some sectors have created supplementary power for themselves,” Ms Hanh said.
Even when a business wants to go bankrupt, it still has to fulfill a lot of formalities.
Source: VNN
New OTC regulations in July
As of July 2007, transactions of unlisted shares on the OTC market (over the counter) must be carried out through securities companies, according to the State Securities Commission (SSC).
From that time, OTC securities will have their own trading floor, which will help increase the liquidity of OTC shares and minimise risks for investors.
Bui Nguyen Hoan, Chief Representative of SSC, said on April 14 that there would be new regulations on the operation of the stock market.
The HCM City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC) will be changed into the HCM City Stock Exchange, and there will be two main changes consequent of the restructuring. First, the scheme on periodic matching of investors’ orders will be replaced with the real-time matching scheme to be applied as of May 7, 2007. Second, shares of public companies (ones which have over VND10bil in capital and 100 investors) must make securities deposits at securities companies. Mr Hoan said that the new regulations aimed to minimise risks for OTC investors.
Mr Hoan said that it was necessary to differentiate the OTC market and the black market. The latter is the spontaneously developed market, where trading deals are not supervised and witnessed by any state agencies, and most are made in cafés.
Mr Hoan said that control would only be put on the real OTC market, which has been floated and investors have been facing risks. The liquidity of the market proves to be very low. For example, investors find it difficult to sell shares because the market is not transparent.
The trading deals of OTC shares will be more professional as investors will have to open accounts to advance security money to buy OTC shares. Sellers will be verified enterprises. The time for transactions and trading band for securities transactions will be more flexible with no ceiling for prices. These regulations will help raise the liquidity of OTC shares, according to Nguyen Ho Nam, Director General of SBS, a securities company.
Source: VNN
From that time, OTC securities will have their own trading floor, which will help increase the liquidity of OTC shares and minimise risks for investors.
Bui Nguyen Hoan, Chief Representative of SSC, said on April 14 that there would be new regulations on the operation of the stock market.
The HCM City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC) will be changed into the HCM City Stock Exchange, and there will be two main changes consequent of the restructuring. First, the scheme on periodic matching of investors’ orders will be replaced with the real-time matching scheme to be applied as of May 7, 2007. Second, shares of public companies (ones which have over VND10bil in capital and 100 investors) must make securities deposits at securities companies. Mr Hoan said that the new regulations aimed to minimise risks for OTC investors.
Mr Hoan said that it was necessary to differentiate the OTC market and the black market. The latter is the spontaneously developed market, where trading deals are not supervised and witnessed by any state agencies, and most are made in cafés.
Mr Hoan said that control would only be put on the real OTC market, which has been floated and investors have been facing risks. The liquidity of the market proves to be very low. For example, investors find it difficult to sell shares because the market is not transparent.
The trading deals of OTC shares will be more professional as investors will have to open accounts to advance security money to buy OTC shares. Sellers will be verified enterprises. The time for transactions and trading band for securities transactions will be more flexible with no ceiling for prices. These regulations will help raise the liquidity of OTC shares, according to Nguyen Ho Nam, Director General of SBS, a securities company.
Source: VNN
Gold fever ahead?
Experts said that the gold price would hit the VND15mil/tael ($937.5) level, repeating the gold fever seen in 2006.
The gold price in the domestic market has exceeded the VND13mil/tael ($812.5) level. The gold market is expected to be continuously hot in the time to come when the greenback devaluates, oil prices increase and gold demand increases in India as the country enters the wedding season.
Like previous increases, the gold price in the domestic market has increased because of the world’s price hike. Last week’s closing price was at $684.8/oz in the international market, equivalent to VND13,290,000 per tael, after continued increases from $677/oz (VND13,140,000/tael).
At this time last year, the gold price stayed at below VND12mil per tael. The highest peak was seen in May 2006, at VND14-15mil per tael, while hitting VND15.1mil on May 12, 2006, which was equivalent to the world’s price at $720/oz. However, the price then fell down quickly, by 10% over a few days.
Analysts said that the price increases in the last several days just repeated the previously recorded levels, and have not caused any big changes in purchasing power. Though people are interested in the price fluctuations, they are not rushing to buy or sell gold as they did one year ago.
In addition, as real estate remains cool, the demand for purchasing gold to make payment for real estate trading deals has not increased yet, while people make payments for apartments and land in VND cash. That explains why the gold market remains quiet.
Source: VNN
The gold price in the domestic market has exceeded the VND13mil/tael ($812.5) level. The gold market is expected to be continuously hot in the time to come when the greenback devaluates, oil prices increase and gold demand increases in India as the country enters the wedding season.
Like previous increases, the gold price in the domestic market has increased because of the world’s price hike. Last week’s closing price was at $684.8/oz in the international market, equivalent to VND13,290,000 per tael, after continued increases from $677/oz (VND13,140,000/tael).
At this time last year, the gold price stayed at below VND12mil per tael. The highest peak was seen in May 2006, at VND14-15mil per tael, while hitting VND15.1mil on May 12, 2006, which was equivalent to the world’s price at $720/oz. However, the price then fell down quickly, by 10% over a few days.
Analysts said that the price increases in the last several days just repeated the previously recorded levels, and have not caused any big changes in purchasing power. Though people are interested in the price fluctuations, they are not rushing to buy or sell gold as they did one year ago.
In addition, as real estate remains cool, the demand for purchasing gold to make payment for real estate trading deals has not increased yet, while people make payments for apartments and land in VND cash. That explains why the gold market remains quiet.
Source: VNN
Gold hits 11-month high
The price of gold on the Ho Chi Minh City market climbed to more than 13 million VND per tael (38g/1.25 ounces) over the weekend, the highest level in the past 11 months.
According to Sai Gon Jewellery Co, the buying price for gold last Saturday reached 13.15 million VND per tael and the selling price 13.22 million VND per tael. This was an increase of 1 million VND per tael against a day earlier.
In Ha Noi, gold prices ranged from 13.16-13.20 million VND per tael on April 16, up 800,000 VND per tael. These numbers nearly reached those of the gold prices on the global market, which surged to 686-87 USD per ounce (13.26-13.27 million VND per tael) ( 1 ounce = 0.83 taels).
Le Xuan Dong, head of the Transaction Department of Bao Tin Minh Chau Jewellery Co, said increasing global gold prices were a key factor causing the rise in gold prices on the domestic market.
"However, the fall in the securities market is also seen as an important factor causing the increase in domestic gold prices," he said." Many clients (of Bao Tin) said that they used money gained from the securities market to buy gold to keep in reserve until the securities market calmed down."
The recent growth is also a product of dollar depreciation as many investors have turned to channeling capital into investment in gold.
In addition, rising oil prices amid the peak period of US oil consumption and strong demands for gold jewellery for India's upcoming wedding season have been cited as factors contributing to the upward trend in prices. Indian jewellery traders said that this year their country had already imported some 600 tonnes of gold in preparation for the approaching wedding season.
According to Dong, the climb in local gold prices will likely continue over the next couple of months.
"Domestic gold prices may peak at a little over 14 million VND per tael. I think setting a new growth record (like 15 million VND) is unlikely," he said.
The current growth in domestic gold prices has yet to meet that of last May, when prices hit 14 million VND per tael.
No fluctuations in purchasing power have been reported.
Source: VNA
According to Sai Gon Jewellery Co, the buying price for gold last Saturday reached 13.15 million VND per tael and the selling price 13.22 million VND per tael. This was an increase of 1 million VND per tael against a day earlier.
In Ha Noi, gold prices ranged from 13.16-13.20 million VND per tael on April 16, up 800,000 VND per tael. These numbers nearly reached those of the gold prices on the global market, which surged to 686-87 USD per ounce (13.26-13.27 million VND per tael) ( 1 ounce = 0.83 taels).
Le Xuan Dong, head of the Transaction Department of Bao Tin Minh Chau Jewellery Co, said increasing global gold prices were a key factor causing the rise in gold prices on the domestic market.
"However, the fall in the securities market is also seen as an important factor causing the increase in domestic gold prices," he said." Many clients (of Bao Tin) said that they used money gained from the securities market to buy gold to keep in reserve until the securities market calmed down."
The recent growth is also a product of dollar depreciation as many investors have turned to channeling capital into investment in gold.
In addition, rising oil prices amid the peak period of US oil consumption and strong demands for gold jewellery for India's upcoming wedding season have been cited as factors contributing to the upward trend in prices. Indian jewellery traders said that this year their country had already imported some 600 tonnes of gold in preparation for the approaching wedding season.
According to Dong, the climb in local gold prices will likely continue over the next couple of months.
"Domestic gold prices may peak at a little over 14 million VND per tael. I think setting a new growth record (like 15 million VND) is unlikely," he said.
The current growth in domestic gold prices has yet to meet that of last May, when prices hit 14 million VND per tael.
No fluctuations in purchasing power have been reported.
Source: VNA
Pha Lai Thermal Power doubles revenues in 2006
Pha Lai's 2006 revenues more than doubled to 3.6 trillion dong ($223 million) from 1.5 trillion dong in 2005, it said in a statement. Its net profit last year soared to 979 billion dong ($60.7 million) from just 9 billion dong a year ago.
Its shares lost 2,000 dong to close at 69,500 dong ($4.30) before the results were released.
Source: Reuters
Its shares lost 2,000 dong to close at 69,500 dong ($4.30) before the results were released.
Source: Reuters
Vinamilk discloses quarterly figures
Leading Vietnamese dairy product maker Vinamilk (VNM) said on Monday quarterly net profit jumped nearly 66% to 323 billion dong ($20 million).
Vietnam's second-largest listed company also said revenues in the first quarter ended in March were 1.38 trillion dong ($86 million), up 7% from a year earlier It gave no reason for the increase in a company statement.
Earlier this month the $2 billion company foreacst its 2006 net profit would rise by 22.7 percent to 898 billion dong ($55.7 million) and revenues by 11.5% to 7.43 trillion dong ($461 million).
Vinamilk's Chief Executive Mai Kieu Lien said in March the firm would list 8.85 million shares with a total face value of $5.5 million on the Singapore stock market this year.
Vinamilk, the short name for the Vietnam Dairy Products Company, based in Ho Chi Minh City, has 75% of the market for diary products and beverages. The firm also deals in real estate and provides warehousing and transport services.
Shares in Vinamilk last traded down 0.6% on Friday to close at 178,000 dong ($11), having shed 16% from its year high of 212,000 dong.
Source: Reuters
Vietnam's second-largest listed company also said revenues in the first quarter ended in March were 1.38 trillion dong ($86 million), up 7% from a year earlier It gave no reason for the increase in a company statement.
Earlier this month the $2 billion company foreacst its 2006 net profit would rise by 22.7 percent to 898 billion dong ($55.7 million) and revenues by 11.5% to 7.43 trillion dong ($461 million).
Vinamilk's Chief Executive Mai Kieu Lien said in March the firm would list 8.85 million shares with a total face value of $5.5 million on the Singapore stock market this year.
Vinamilk, the short name for the Vietnam Dairy Products Company, based in Ho Chi Minh City, has 75% of the market for diary products and beverages. The firm also deals in real estate and provides warehousing and transport services.
Shares in Vinamilk last traded down 0.6% on Friday to close at 178,000 dong ($11), having shed 16% from its year high of 212,000 dong.
Source: Reuters
Small Hotel operator sells equity stake to public
A small Vietnamese hotel company raised 67.24 billion dong ($4.2 million) by selling more than 90% of its shares to the public on Monday, the Hanoi stock market said.
Song Nhue Tourist Hotel Company sold all 1,399,640 shares on offer, or 93.31% of its total, to Vietnamese individual investors, the stock exchange said in a statement. It did not disclose the identities of buyers.
The shares were sold at an average price of 48,038 dong ($3), above the 30,000-dong initial price set for bidding, suggesting the firm was valued at $4.5 million.
Neither institutional investors nor foreign investors joined the auction and the company, based in the northern province of Ha Tay, did not say when it planned to list its shares or how the proceeds would be invested.
It operates a hotel in Ha Dong, the capital of Ha Tay province 10 km (6 miles) southwest of Hanoi.
While Vietnam's tourism sector has posted a 20% growth in revenues in 2005 and 2006, reaching $2.2 billion last year, most of the earnings came from Vietnamese travellers who enjoyed rising incomes in line with an economic growth of 8%.
Source: Reuters
Song Nhue Tourist Hotel Company sold all 1,399,640 shares on offer, or 93.31% of its total, to Vietnamese individual investors, the stock exchange said in a statement. It did not disclose the identities of buyers.
The shares were sold at an average price of 48,038 dong ($3), above the 30,000-dong initial price set for bidding, suggesting the firm was valued at $4.5 million.
Neither institutional investors nor foreign investors joined the auction and the company, based in the northern province of Ha Tay, did not say when it planned to list its shares or how the proceeds would be invested.
It operates a hotel in Ha Dong, the capital of Ha Tay province 10 km (6 miles) southwest of Hanoi.
While Vietnam's tourism sector has posted a 20% growth in revenues in 2005 and 2006, reaching $2.2 billion last year, most of the earnings came from Vietnamese travellers who enjoyed rising incomes in line with an economic growth of 8%.
Source: Reuters
More listings expected later this year
Vietnam's fledgling stock markets can expect a slew of new listings in the second quarter and companies will also start seeking ways to tap capital markets overseas, a stock exchange official said on Monday.
He said no new listings were reported during the first quarter because companies needed to complete auditing of financial reports and needed approval from shareholders.
"From the middle of the second quarter or late in the quarter many enterprises will list on the Ho Chi Minh City market or the Hanoi market," Tran Van Dung, director of the Hanoi Securities Trading Center , said at a news conference.
Dung was speaking after signing an agreement with Malaysian stock exchange operator Bursa Malaysia Bhd on technological support, information exchange and market supervision and training.
Vietnam's main board, the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center , signed a deal with the Malaysians last May.
The Malaysians were visiting to seek opportunities to bring Vietnamese companies to its exchange.
"We are very keen to boost cooperation to develop the potential of the market," Chief Executive Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said at the news conference.
After hosting a seminar in Hanoi on Monday to introduce Bursa Malaysia and its listing requirements, Yusli said a similar seminar would be held in Ho Chi Minh City next month.
The combined market capitalisation of the two exchanges is relatively small at about $20 billion, but the VN Index in Ho Chi Minh City grew a massive 144.5% last year and has gained 30% so far this year.
Several Vietnamese firms including Vinamilk , FPT , Saigon Securities and Southern Commercial Bank - 10% of which is owned by United Overseas Bank - say they want to list overseas, such as in Singapore.
Shareholders of second-largest listed company Vinamilk have approved the listing of 5% of the company in Singapore, but no other firms have applied for permission from the State Securities Commission (SSC) market watchdog, officials said.
"The year 2007 is just a starting year so there would be few companies to list abroad," Dung said.
Vietnam's laws do not require a company to have a domestic listing before it can list overseas. But the government caps the foreign ownership in a non-bank listed firm at 49% and 30% in a listed bank.
It would be more feasible for a Vietnamese firm to list part of its shares on an overseas market separately from its domestic listing, SSC head of International Cooperation Department Nguyen Ngoc Canh said.
Trading by foreign investors makes up 6% of the Hanoi market's daily trading volume and they altogether hold just less than 10% of the total shares, director Dung said.
Early this month the Hanoi exchange signed a cooperation agreement with the Singapore Exchange Ltd. to help Vietnamese firms list in Singapore.
Source: Reuters
He said no new listings were reported during the first quarter because companies needed to complete auditing of financial reports and needed approval from shareholders.
"From the middle of the second quarter or late in the quarter many enterprises will list on the Ho Chi Minh City market or the Hanoi market," Tran Van Dung, director of the Hanoi Securities Trading Center , said at a news conference.
Dung was speaking after signing an agreement with Malaysian stock exchange operator Bursa Malaysia Bhd on technological support, information exchange and market supervision and training.
Vietnam's main board, the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center , signed a deal with the Malaysians last May.
The Malaysians were visiting to seek opportunities to bring Vietnamese companies to its exchange.
"We are very keen to boost cooperation to develop the potential of the market," Chief Executive Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said at the news conference.
After hosting a seminar in Hanoi on Monday to introduce Bursa Malaysia and its listing requirements, Yusli said a similar seminar would be held in Ho Chi Minh City next month.
The combined market capitalisation of the two exchanges is relatively small at about $20 billion, but the VN Index in Ho Chi Minh City grew a massive 144.5% last year and has gained 30% so far this year.
Several Vietnamese firms including Vinamilk , FPT , Saigon Securities and Southern Commercial Bank - 10% of which is owned by United Overseas Bank - say they want to list overseas, such as in Singapore.
Shareholders of second-largest listed company Vinamilk have approved the listing of 5% of the company in Singapore, but no other firms have applied for permission from the State Securities Commission (SSC) market watchdog, officials said.
"The year 2007 is just a starting year so there would be few companies to list abroad," Dung said.
Vietnam's laws do not require a company to have a domestic listing before it can list overseas. But the government caps the foreign ownership in a non-bank listed firm at 49% and 30% in a listed bank.
It would be more feasible for a Vietnamese firm to list part of its shares on an overseas market separately from its domestic listing, SSC head of International Cooperation Department Nguyen Ngoc Canh said.
Trading by foreign investors makes up 6% of the Hanoi market's daily trading volume and they altogether hold just less than 10% of the total shares, director Dung said.
Early this month the Hanoi exchange signed a cooperation agreement with the Singapore Exchange Ltd. to help Vietnamese firms list in Singapore.
Source: Reuters
Vincom plans IPO
Vietnamese property developer Vincom plans to raise $25 million via a maiden auction in June of 5 million shares, or 8.3 percent of the company, state media reported on Monday.
The shares, which carry a face value of 10,000 dong each, will be auctioned on June 6 at a starting price of 80,000 dong ($5), the Lao Dong newspaper reported.
The starting price suggests the company, which owns a large office and shopping complex in Hanoi and a five-star resort in the central city of Nha Trang, would be valued at around $300 million.
Source: Reuters
The shares, which carry a face value of 10,000 dong each, will be auctioned on June 6 at a starting price of 80,000 dong ($5), the Lao Dong newspaper reported.
The starting price suggests the company, which owns a large office and shopping complex in Hanoi and a five-star resort in the central city of Nha Trang, would be valued at around $300 million.
Source: Reuters
Monday, April 16, 2007
VN-Index below 1000-points ahead of IPOs
VN-Index fell below the important psychological level of 1,000 points today, following a spate of selling before more new listings.
"Many investors have started looking for growth stocks in the upcoming IPOs and started selling shares they believed had reached their growth limits to get cash to enlarge their portfolios with the upcoming new listed shares," an analyst from Vinci Capital said.
"The market needs new momentum and new stories other than the 8 percent economic growth and the WTO membership. It is time for investors to start looking at fundamentals like revenues forecast and company performances," he added.
Only two of the 107 companies listed on the main board Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center gained in Monday session including shares in blue-chip FPT which rose nearly 1% to close at 525,000 dong ($32.6) each.
The firm said on Monday it had won the right to distribute products of Apple Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile , Research), with six stores planned this year in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Analysts said among new stocks to watch this year would be Saigon Beer Alcohol Corp (Sabeco), Vietnam's largest brewer, which plans to auction 20% of its shares in August.
Others expected to make their mark on the exchange with listings are banks. Vietcombank, Incombank and Vietindebank, three of the four largest lenders in Vietnam, all plan IPOs between the second and fourth quarters.
Source: Reuters
"Many investors have started looking for growth stocks in the upcoming IPOs and started selling shares they believed had reached their growth limits to get cash to enlarge their portfolios with the upcoming new listed shares," an analyst from Vinci Capital said.
"The market needs new momentum and new stories other than the 8 percent economic growth and the WTO membership. It is time for investors to start looking at fundamentals like revenues forecast and company performances," he added.
Only two of the 107 companies listed on the main board Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center gained in Monday session including shares in blue-chip FPT which rose nearly 1% to close at 525,000 dong ($32.6) each.
The firm said on Monday it had won the right to distribute products of Apple Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile , Research), with six stores planned this year in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Analysts said among new stocks to watch this year would be Saigon Beer Alcohol Corp (Sabeco), Vietnam's largest brewer, which plans to auction 20% of its shares in August.
Others expected to make their mark on the exchange with listings are banks. Vietcombank, Incombank and Vietindebank, three of the four largest lenders in Vietnam, all plan IPOs between the second and fourth quarters.
Source: Reuters
VN-Index plunges
Viet Nam’s stock market continued its downtrend on April 16, with the country’s major index dropping to below 1,000 points for the first time in three months.
During the session, a total of 5,273,810 stocks worth 680.62 billion VND changed hands. The bourse saw only two stocks rally for gains, 10 shares remained unchanged and 97 stocks fell.
At the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre, HaSTC-Index dropped to 366.18 points, down 25.91 points from the previous session.
A total of 1.33 million shares were traded, with a value of more than 164.84 billion VND.
Experts said that the market is correcting itself and stocks are beginning to return to close to what their real value should be, resulting in smaller investors retreating from the bourses enmasse for fear of taking further losses.
Securities brokerage companies have reported that a substantial number of market players' accounts have been cleaned out after consistently losing between 20-30% on investments.
Source: VNA
During the session, a total of 5,273,810 stocks worth 680.62 billion VND changed hands. The bourse saw only two stocks rally for gains, 10 shares remained unchanged and 97 stocks fell.
At the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre, HaSTC-Index dropped to 366.18 points, down 25.91 points from the previous session.
A total of 1.33 million shares were traded, with a value of more than 164.84 billion VND.
Experts said that the market is correcting itself and stocks are beginning to return to close to what their real value should be, resulting in smaller investors retreating from the bourses enmasse for fear of taking further losses.
Securities brokerage companies have reported that a substantial number of market players' accounts have been cleaned out after consistently losing between 20-30% on investments.
Source: VNA
FPT plans inhouse bank
The Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT) has announced plans to expand its operations into financial services and fund management.
The FPT management board will seek permission from relevant State bodies to invest 150 billion VND (9.3 million USD) in establishing the FPT Commercial Joint Stock Bank and 36.3 billion VND (2.3 million USD) in setting up the FPT Investment Fund Management Joint Stock Company.
The board has also voted to establish the FPT Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park Development Co. Ltd with capital of 150 billion VND (9.3 million USD).
In 2006, FPT earned a total of 11.7 trillion VND (727 million USD), a year-on-year increase of 42.4%, and now has 7,000 employees.
Source: VNA
The FPT management board will seek permission from relevant State bodies to invest 150 billion VND (9.3 million USD) in establishing the FPT Commercial Joint Stock Bank and 36.3 billion VND (2.3 million USD) in setting up the FPT Investment Fund Management Joint Stock Company.
The board has also voted to establish the FPT Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park Development Co. Ltd with capital of 150 billion VND (9.3 million USD).
In 2006, FPT earned a total of 11.7 trillion VND (727 million USD), a year-on-year increase of 42.4%, and now has 7,000 employees.
Source: VNA
Hapaco signs oil refinery contract
The Hai Phong Paper Joint Stock Company (Hapaco), on April 14, signed a new contract with Evagor of Germany, under which the German firm will provide consultancy for Hapaco’s oil refinery project as well as undertake construction of the plant.
Under the contract, Evagor will draw out a feasibility study for the project; provide construction consultancy, loans and equipment; transfer technology; and operate the oil refinery which will be built at the Hai Phong-based Dinh Vu Industrial Zone in the first stage.
The contract is valued at 150 million USD, to which Evagor will finance 128 million USD.
Hapaco is listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre.
Source: VNA
Under the contract, Evagor will draw out a feasibility study for the project; provide construction consultancy, loans and equipment; transfer technology; and operate the oil refinery which will be built at the Hai Phong-based Dinh Vu Industrial Zone in the first stage.
The contract is valued at 150 million USD, to which Evagor will finance 128 million USD.
Hapaco is listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre.
Source: VNA
Vietcombank buys stake of Gia Dinh Commercial Bank
The Gia Dinh Commercial Joint Stock Bank plans to sell 30% of its stock to the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) in late April.
Gia Dinh’s chartered capital, VND210 billion (US$13.125 million), is lowest among urban commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam at present. This bank has applied to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to increase its chartered capital to VND500 billion ($31.25 million) by issuing shares. It has proposed selling shares worth VND150 billion ($.375 million) to Vietcombank, VND105 billion ($6.56 million) to its current shareholders and VND35 billion ($2.187 million) to the public in the form of auction.
Gia Dinh Bank’s network is quite modest, comprising its head office, three branches in HCM City and one in Hanoi. However, the involvement of Vietcombank would benefit the bank.
Source: VNE
Gia Dinh’s chartered capital, VND210 billion (US$13.125 million), is lowest among urban commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam at present. This bank has applied to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to increase its chartered capital to VND500 billion ($31.25 million) by issuing shares. It has proposed selling shares worth VND150 billion ($.375 million) to Vietcombank, VND105 billion ($6.56 million) to its current shareholders and VND35 billion ($2.187 million) to the public in the form of auction.
Gia Dinh Bank’s network is quite modest, comprising its head office, three branches in HCM City and one in Hanoi. However, the involvement of Vietcombank would benefit the bank.
Source: VNE
BIDV to set up investment fund
Vietnamese state-run Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV) is seeking approval to set up a fund to invest in the country’s manufacturing and energy sectors.
A venture between BIDV and 10 other institutions, the fund is expected to debut by the second quarter, according to a bank spokesman.
It will have a registered capital of VND100 billion (US$6.25 million) and might mobilize up to VND10 trillion.
Another source said many large Vietnamese corporations would contribute to this fund, Vietnamese state-run Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV) is seeking approval to set up a fund to invest in the country’s manufacturing and energy sectors.
A venture between BIDV and 10 other institutions, the fund is expected to debut by the second quarter, according to a bank spokesman.
It will have a registered capital of VND100 billion (US$6.25 million) and might mobilize up to VND10 trillion.
Another source said many large Vietnamese corporations would contribute to this fund, including the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), and some firms in the IT, power, and industry sectors.
BIDV and VNPT became strategic partners when they sealed a cooperation agreement in February.
Under the agreement, the two sides will join forces to establish investment funds in various sector including energy, telecoms, real estate and mining.
A BIDV representative said the two parties had also discussed either setting up or controlling a major portion of stakes in companies involved in the country’s forthcoming key mega projects.
These comprise the expressway connecting the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay, the Vietnam-Laos Hydropower plant, Vietnam – Cambodia Hydropower plant, and a bank for trade, industry and services of Vietnam.
Last year, the 50:50 joint venture BIDV – Vietnam Partners Investment Management launched a $100 million members’ fund named VIF.
It invests in equitized state enterprises and new joint stock companies in telecoms, oil and gas, mining, and tourism.
Around 20 leading companies like FPT, Vinashin, Vinconex, Song Da Corp., and VNPT are members of VIF.
Source: Thanh Nien
A venture between BIDV and 10 other institutions, the fund is expected to debut by the second quarter, according to a bank spokesman.
It will have a registered capital of VND100 billion (US$6.25 million) and might mobilize up to VND10 trillion.
Another source said many large Vietnamese corporations would contribute to this fund, Vietnamese state-run Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV) is seeking approval to set up a fund to invest in the country’s manufacturing and energy sectors.
A venture between BIDV and 10 other institutions, the fund is expected to debut by the second quarter, according to a bank spokesman.
It will have a registered capital of VND100 billion (US$6.25 million) and might mobilize up to VND10 trillion.
Another source said many large Vietnamese corporations would contribute to this fund, including the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), and some firms in the IT, power, and industry sectors.
BIDV and VNPT became strategic partners when they sealed a cooperation agreement in February.
Under the agreement, the two sides will join forces to establish investment funds in various sector including energy, telecoms, real estate and mining.
A BIDV representative said the two parties had also discussed either setting up or controlling a major portion of stakes in companies involved in the country’s forthcoming key mega projects.
These comprise the expressway connecting the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay, the Vietnam-Laos Hydropower plant, Vietnam – Cambodia Hydropower plant, and a bank for trade, industry and services of Vietnam.
Last year, the 50:50 joint venture BIDV – Vietnam Partners Investment Management launched a $100 million members’ fund named VIF.
It invests in equitized state enterprises and new joint stock companies in telecoms, oil and gas, mining, and tourism.
Around 20 leading companies like FPT, Vinashin, Vinconex, Song Da Corp., and VNPT are members of VIF.
Source: Thanh Nien
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Retailer Intimex offered equity to public
A small Vietnamese supermarket operator, which is also a leading exporter of robusta coffee and pepper, raised 269.3 billion dong ($16.7 million) by selling 33.66% of its shares to the public, the stock market said on Friday.
Intimex Import-Export Corporation sold all 1,682,800 shares on offer to domestic investors in the IPO on Thursday, the over-the-counter Hanoi stock market said in a statement. It did not disclose the identities of buyers.
The shares were sold at an average price of 160,025 dong ($9.93), way above the 10,200-dong initial price set for bids, suggesting the firm was valued at $49.65 million, or nearly twice the book value of $27.2 million in its own assessment.
Hanoi-based Intimex did not say when it planned to list its shares or how the proceeds would be invested.
Employees in the company, which is controlled by the Trade Ministry and 45% owned by the state, hold a 21.34% stake.
The company has been running a number of supermarkets in Hanoi and several northern locations since 2001. But Intimex is known more abroad as the exporter of robusta coffee and pepper. Vietnam is the world's top exporter of the two commodities.
Intimex has projected its gross profit next year to rise 16.7% to 6.08 billion dong ($377,300) from 5.21 billion dong expected this year.
Intimex Import-Export Corporation sold all 1,682,800 shares on offer to domestic investors in the IPO on Thursday, the over-the-counter Hanoi stock market said in a statement. It did not disclose the identities of buyers.
The shares were sold at an average price of 160,025 dong ($9.93), way above the 10,200-dong initial price set for bids, suggesting the firm was valued at $49.65 million, or nearly twice the book value of $27.2 million in its own assessment.
Hanoi-based Intimex did not say when it planned to list its shares or how the proceeds would be invested.
Employees in the company, which is controlled by the Trade Ministry and 45% owned by the state, hold a 21.34% stake.
The company has been running a number of supermarkets in Hanoi and several northern locations since 2001. But Intimex is known more abroad as the exporter of robusta coffee and pepper. Vietnam is the world's top exporter of the two commodities.
Intimex has projected its gross profit next year to rise 16.7% to 6.08 billion dong ($377,300) from 5.21 billion dong expected this year.
Vietnam's first auditing firm plans IPO in May
Small Vietnamese auditing company AACC said on Friday it would become the first in its sector to issue shares, with a plan to raise more than $700,000 via an auction early next month.
In a statement, the Auditing & Accounting, Financial Consultancy Service Co. said its book value stood at nearly 22.87 billion dong ($1.4 million) as at Dec. 31, 2006, of which the state held 49.6 percent or 11.34 billion dong.
The state-held stake will be divided into 100 shares, 92 of which will be offered for sale on May 2 only to Vietnamese investors at a starting price of 124.76 million dong ($7,742).
Outside investors must be a licensed auditor for at least the past five years and must commit to working at AACC, the statement said.
"We have asked Bao Viet Securities to underwrite the issue," the company executive said without elaboration.
Established in 1991, Hanoi-based AACC said it was one of Vietnam's first two independent firms that offered auditing, finance and tax consultancy services. It has branches in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial centre, and in three other provinces.
Terms of the AACC share auctions are far different from most IPOs announced so far in Vietnam as ordinary shares often carry a 10,000-dong face value and investors are not required to work in the issuing company.
Baoviet Securities (BVS) is a subsidiary of Vietnam's top insurance firm Bao Viet. The securities firm, listed last year on the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center, is a new business of Bao Viet which has said it would diversify into banking, financial leasing, real estate and public health insurance.
AACC did not say when it planned to list its shares or how the proceeds would be invested.
The communist-run government wants to allow 550 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to undergo full or partial privatisations this year, and aims to complete the restructuring of all the SOEs in Vietnam by 2010.
Source: Reuters
In a statement, the Auditing & Accounting, Financial Consultancy Service Co. said its book value stood at nearly 22.87 billion dong ($1.4 million) as at Dec. 31, 2006, of which the state held 49.6 percent or 11.34 billion dong.
The state-held stake will be divided into 100 shares, 92 of which will be offered for sale on May 2 only to Vietnamese investors at a starting price of 124.76 million dong ($7,742).
Outside investors must be a licensed auditor for at least the past five years and must commit to working at AACC, the statement said.
"We have asked Bao Viet Securities to underwrite the issue," the company executive said without elaboration.
Established in 1991, Hanoi-based AACC said it was one of Vietnam's first two independent firms that offered auditing, finance and tax consultancy services. It has branches in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial centre, and in three other provinces.
Terms of the AACC share auctions are far different from most IPOs announced so far in Vietnam as ordinary shares often carry a 10,000-dong face value and investors are not required to work in the issuing company.
Baoviet Securities (BVS) is a subsidiary of Vietnam's top insurance firm Bao Viet. The securities firm, listed last year on the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center, is a new business of Bao Viet which has said it would diversify into banking, financial leasing, real estate and public health insurance.
AACC did not say when it planned to list its shares or how the proceeds would be invested.
The communist-run government wants to allow 550 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to undergo full or partial privatisations this year, and aims to complete the restructuring of all the SOEs in Vietnam by 2010.
Source: Reuters
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