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
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment