OPC pharmaceuticals producer to list on HOSE

OPC Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Co is finalising procedures to list shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), reported the general director Truong Duc Trong.
Last year the firm reached 180 billion dong in revenue and 33.9 billion dong in after-tax profit.
In 2007, OPC issued shares three times to the public to raise the chartered capital to the current 81.9 billion dong.

Safoco to pay 20% dividend in cash

Friday, April 18, 2008
Safoco Food and Foodstuff Joint Stock Co (coded SAF) recently announced that last year, it made a revenue of 333.3 billion dong, up 18.34%, 10.85 billion dong from after tax profit, rising 20% against 2006 and export turnover reached nearly US$1.93 million.
Under the shareholders' meeting held recently, the company plans to pay 20% dividend in cash on May 12.
The shareholders also passed the business plan in 2008 with a revenue of 400 billion dong, 12 billion dong from after tax profit, US$2.37 million from export turnover and pay dividend of 22%.
The registration deadline to close the shareholders book to pay dividend is on April 25.
The ex-interest date will be April 23.

GMC targets 15% dividend in cash in 2008

Friday, April 18, 2008
Saigon Garment Trade and Production Joint Stock Co (coded GMC)'s shareholders' meeting recently passed the business plan in 2008 with 370 billion dong in revenue, 20 billion dong from pre tax profit and pay dividend of 15% in cash.
The shareholders' meeting also passed the plan to offer 1,867,799 shares to the existing shareholders for the second phase of 2008 at the ratio of two new shares for five shares held and the selling price of 12,000 dong per share.

Thien Nam export and import firm targets 24.5b dong profit in 2008

Friday, April 18, 2008
Thien Nam Export Import Commerce Joint Stock Co (coded TNA) recently built the business plan in 2008 whereby the company targets to earn 800 billion dong in revenue, up 70% against the last year and 24.5 billion dong from pre tax profit, a year-on-year increase of 63%.
During the first quarter of 2008, TNA gained 259.59 billion dong in revenue, 177.76% increase yoy and 6.03 billion dong from pre tax profit, rising 49.26% from 2007.
Within this year, the company plans to complete three office-building projects in HCM City.

Thu Duc Housing targets 36% growth rate

Friday, April 18, 2008
Thu Duc Housing Development Joint Stock Co (coded DTC)'s annual shareholders' meeting recently passed the 2008 business plan with nearly 363.3 billion dong in net revenue, up 35.8% yoy and 182.3 billion dong from after tax profit, rising 10.8% against 2007.
As for the parent company or Thuduc House, the targets will be 299.9 billion dong in revenue, 165.5 billion dong from after tax profit and pay a dividend of 18%.
Last year, Thuduchouse reached 267.5 billion dong in revenue and 164.5 billion dong from after tax profit and the figures of the parent company were 251.2 billion dong and 140.28 billion dong respectively.
The company plans to pay dividend of 20%, of which 10% in cash and 10% in shares.

ThepViet Capital Fund Management Co licensed

Friday, April 18, 2008
The State Securities Commission (SSC) on April 14 granted 50-year business License No 31/UBCK-GP for the ThepViet Capital Fund Management Joint Stock Co (TVC) located at the fifth floor, 289 Ly Thuong Kiet, ward 15 in HCM City's district 11.
TVC with a chartered capital of 25 billion dong will specialise in securities investment fund management, securities investment company management and investment portfolio management.

Banking system facing high credit risks

Friday, April 18, 2008
The latest report by the State Bank of Viet Nam about the operation of commercial banks in HCM City in the first quarter of 2008 shows that banks’ mobilised capital was VND518.5tril, while their total outstanding loans were VND460tril, or the loaned sums accounted for 88% of mobilised capital, a very high proportion.
Some commercial banks last week began cutting lending interest rates, a sign that they have calmed down since once facing low liquidity. However, the interest rate cuts do not prove that commercial banks have been able to avoid risks. Audited reports and statistics show that many banks have high credit risks.
Financial experts have pointed out that commercial banks have put themselves in a dangerous situation as the loaning ratio proves to be overly high compared to the mobilised capital.
The latest report by the State Bank of Vietnam about the operation of commercial banks in HCM City in the first quarter of 2008 shows that banks’ mobilised capital was VND518.5tril, while their total outstanding loans were VND460tril, or the loaned sums accounted for 88% of mobilised capital, a very high proportion.
Meanwhile, the highest proportion, according to banking experts, should be no more than 75%.
Experts say that state owned banks always have low ratios of loans/mobilised capital, which help them maintain high liquidity. This means that small and newly established banks have very high percentages of loans, possibly 100-200% of mobilised capital (the banks mobilised VND100, but lent VND200, including money they borrowed from other banks on the interbank market).

The report cites the case of a bank in HCM City (S Bank) as example. S bank has the total assets of VND25.9tril, including VND15.9tril worth of mobilised capital, and VND5.3bil it borrowed from other banks. It lent VND19.3bil, which means the loans were higher than the mobilised capital. It is clear that the bank is at high risk of losing liquidity.

Moreover, commercial banks are also facing risks due to unsuitable interest rate policies. The serious shortage of VND capital has forced banks to raise deposit interest rates, once hitting 14% per annum. However, banks cannot raise lending interest rates for clients which signed credit contracts before, when the interest rates were lower. Banks now have to persuade their clients to re-negotiate new ending interest rates, and this work proves to be not easy.

The fact that the State Treasury is to take back the VND52tril deposited at state owned banks is believed will put new difficulties on banks. State owned banks’ usable capital will be less profuse than nowadays, which also means that joint stock banks cannot rely on state owned banks as the capital providers.

Aware of the risks commercial banks are facing, the State Bank of Vietnam is trying to settle the problems. Le Xuan Nghia, Director of the Banking Development Strategy Department under the State Bank of Vietnam, said that the State Bank is considering releasing a regulation which stipulates the ceiling proportion of outstanding loans on mobilised capital on the market (the credit market of banks and enterprises that borrow money for business).

The maximum lending proportion may be 80% of mobilised capital, Nghia said. (SGTT)

VC7 to buy back fund shares

Friday, April 18, 2008
Construction Joint Stock Co No 7 (Vinaconex 7-coded VC7) recently announced that it would buy back 250,000 VC7-coded shares to make fund shares from April 24 to July 18 according to the market price.
Last year, the company earned 140.398 billion dong in net revenue from sales and service provision, up 15% against 2006 and 5.665 billion dong from after tax profit, rising 260.83% from 2006.

April 18, Stock market fall slightly

Friday, April 18, 2008
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) today April 18 closed a week by seeing a slight slip on the stock market when the VN Index dropped slightly 0.27 points or 0.05% to end at 537.31 pts with the total matching order trade of 10,844,280 million shares and fund certificates worth nearly 579 billion dong.
Among 153 shares and fund certificates being listed on the southern bourse, the stock market recorded 51 shares increasing, 15 others remained unchanged and 87 shares decreasing.
Out of the top ten shares with the largest market capitalisation, the stock market recorded four shares increasing namely VNM and PVD added 2,000 dong to 124,000 and 113,000 dong per share, DPM up 1,000 to 53,000 and PPC leaped 300 dong to 39,500 dong per share, SSI stood still at 56,000 dong.
Meanwhile STB lost 700 dong to 38,200 dong, HPG and ITA slipped 1,000 to 66,000 and 69,500 dong, VIC and FPT lost 1,500 dong per share.
DPM reached the biggest trading volume with 1,785,770 shares and followed by SSI with over 1.3 million shares, STB with 1.228 million shares and others with below 300,000 shares like FPT, PVD, VSH, PPC and SBT.
Foreign investors bought 84 share codes with over 3.8 million shares with the biggest trading volume of 913,420 DPM-coded shares and followed by SSI with 681,880 shares, PVD with 234,260 shares and others including VSH, PPC, VNM and DPR.
Similar to the Hanoi Securities Trading Center (HaSTC), the HaSTC-Index also slipped 4.97 points or 2.69% to end at 179.77 pts with the total market trade of 3,696,800 shares worth over 141 billion dong.
Amongst 133 listed shares on the northern bourse, the stock market saw 57 shares increasing while 66 others decreasing, four shares stood still and six shares with no trades.
Six shares with no trades included BTH, HSC, NPS, PJC, VBH and YSC.
Four shares stood still including CTN, MCO, SRB and VTV.
MIC was the biggest gainer when adding 2,200 dong per share and followed by BVS up 2,000 dong, SDC leaped 1,000 dong and others increased below 1,000 dong per share.
Meanwhile VSP showed the strongest decline when losing 1,900 dong and followed by SD7 losing 1,800, CDC and NBC sliping 1,600 and SNG dropping 1,500 dong per share.
KLS took the first place in trading volume with 306,500 shares, followed by DBC with 268,000 shares, PVI with 264,000, ACB with 216,700 shares and PVS with 213,800 shares.

Vinaconex profits double previous year’s

Friday, April 18, 2008
Viet Nam Construction Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex) earned revenue of 7.05 trillion VND (440 million USD) in 2007, leading to a profit of 476.3 billion VND.
This was 104.5 percent higher than in 2006, the company told an annual shareholder meeting on April 17.
This year, the corporation is targeting a profit of 480 billion VND.

Central bank tells ACB to slow 2008 lending

Friday, April 18, 2008
Viet Nam's central bank has told Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) to slow its lending after imposing 30% cap on credit growth for the sector this year in an effort to control inflation at a 12 year high.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based ACB, Viet Nam's fifth-largest lender by assets, should adjust its business plan along government's instructions on measures to control inflation, the State Bank of Viet Nam said in a statement posted on its Web site (www.sbv.gov.vn).
ACB, the sole listed bank on the over-the-counter Hanoi stock market (HaSTC), had forecast loans to grow 85% this year to 59 trillion dong.
The statement gave no timeframe or any specific lending growth rate for ACB.
Last year Viet Nam's credit growth was 54%, p2ompting the central bank to tighten money supply in the first quarter of 2008 as annual inflation hit 19.3% in March, the highest in more than 12 years.
ACB did not immediately comment on Friday but executives from the bank and several other Ho Chi Minh City-based banks have said the central bank should issue specific targets for individual banks because of their different financial strengths.
The central bank said in the same statement that it has allowed ACB to sell bonds on domestic markets this year to raise 6.5 trillion dong ($407 million), similar to the quota it gave ACB last year.
ACB raised only 2.25 trillion dong worth of its 5-year bonds in 2007, or 34.6% of the annual quota. Standard Chartered Plc, which owns 8.6 percent of ACB, was the lead manager for the issue.
ACB has said it would issue bonds for the remaining 4.25 trillion dong in early 2008.
The bank has not published details of any upcoming debt issues. ($1=15,959 dong) (Reuters)

SCB stops promissory note programme? Not so easy

Friday, April 18, 2008
On the afternoon of April 16, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) sent a document to relevant ministries on interrupting the bank’s VND promissory note issuance programme. However, it is not so easy to stop the programme.
SCB has affirmed that it has been following necessary procedures and respecting the regulations set by the Prime Minister, State Bank of Viet Nam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade on promotion programmes.
However, after discussing the matter with the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, SCB decided to cancel the promissory note issuance programme. Pham Anh Dung, General Director of SCB, stated: “SCB stopped the programme voluntarily.”
Why did SCB stop the promissory note issuance programme if it did not violate the current laws, while it needs to mobilise capital? What did the Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam and SCB leaders say in their discussion to lead the bank to stop the promotion programme?
Dung has declined to answer all these questions.
However, Dung said that though SCB’s leadership has decided to stop the programme voluntarily, the programme is still running, because the bank would violate the laws if it spontaneously stopped the programme.
According to Inter-ministerial circular No 07 released by the Ministries of Finance, and Industry and Trade, promotion programmes can be interrupted in two cases: 1. because of force majeure and 2. the promotion programme launcher’s management agency asks for the stoppage of the programme in writing.
But neither of the two cases applies in this case; therefore, SCB has no reason to stop its promotion programme. The State Bank of Viet Nam and the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade have not released any document asking the bank to stop the promotion programme so the bank does not have the right to stop the programme spontaneously.
Dung said that once the two agencies release a document, SCB will stop the programme.
SCB has mobilised VND80bil worth of capital from the programme so far.
In related news, on April 17, the interest rates on the interbank market soared dramatically. Rates of 17-20% per annum are being offered for one-week, two-week and one-month term loans.
Sources say that SCB has to mobilise capital at high interest rates because the bank has been facing big difficulties in capital mobilisation since the ceiling interest rate of 11% was applied. The same situation is being faced by other banks, including banks listed among the top 5 joint stock banks in Viet Nam.
The ceiling interest rate scheme seems to be dissatisfying bankers, who say that it will distort the market. (DTCK)

Mai Linh Group to build more than 100 rest stops

Friday, April 18, 2008
Leading local taxi company Mai Linh Group (MLG) announced plans to build 106 rest areas throughout Vietnam at a press conference Thursday.
MLG General Director Ho Huy said each rest stop would offer parking, restrooms, gas stations, shopping and food.
Internet services may be provided at certain locations depending on demand, he said.
The rest stops will be built along national highways and at border gates with China, Laos and Cambodia.
MLG will train local residents to be employed at the rest areas’ shops.
Residents will also be invited to sell local specialties and food at the rest areas, said Huynh Bao Khuong, head of MLG Business Development Department.
Huy said PetroVietnam Construction Joint-stock Company would share half of the project’s cost.
Work on the first two rest stops began last year at the Lao Bao rest stop in the central province of Quang Tri and Ca Na Beach in Ninh Thuan Province, part of south-central Vietnam.
Construction of both sites is due to be completed soon.
MLG is one of Vietnam’s leading providers of taxi and transport services and has branches in Cambodia. (TN)

Decree on foreign-related M&A takes shape

Friday, April 18, 2008
Decree on foreign-related M&A takes shape

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is drafting a decree on foreign-related mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to improve the quality of foreign direct investment (FDI) and create favourable conditions for domestic and foreign enterprises to buy back shares.

According to Ngo Cong Thanh, who is in charge of the ministry’s Foreign Investment Department Service Section, the decree will outline legal procedures for M&A deals and set a ceiling for foreign ownership in business transactions.

Thanh said there is increasing demand for M&A activities and the department has received many foreign investors’ questions on the issue.

“This is a basic motive for authorised agencies to speed up the compilation and issuance of the decree,” Thanh said.

To cope with the pressure of fierce competition as Viet Nam integrates into the global economy, local businesses have taken measures to increase their capacity by selling and purchasing shares or merging with other domestic and foreign enterprises.

The growing M&A approach is now widely found across Viet Nam ’s finance and securities sectors. Last month, Malaysia 's RHB Investment Bank, the investment arm of RHB Banking Group, bought a 49% stake in Vietnam Securities. Meanwhile, the HCM City-headquartered Au Lac Securities sold 4.9 million shares or 49% of its chartered capital to Technology CX ( Cayman Islands ).

In February, the State Securities Commission gave Singapore-based Morgan Stanley Holding, a branch of the US leading financial corporation Morgan Stanley, approval to join local Gateway Securities Incorporation (GSI) in a joint venture Morgan Stanley Gateway JSC in Viet Nam . Under the deal, Morgan Stanley Holding bought 14.5 million shares, equivalent to 48.33% of GSI’s chartered capital.

A number of foreign banks have also entered into agreements with local banks. Germany-based Deutsche Bank, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), the Australia and New Zealand Banking Limited (ANZ) and Standard Chartered Bank have all signed strategic cooperation agreements to buy shares from Vietnam’s commercial banks – Hanoi Building Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Habubank), the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank), the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (Sacombank) and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB).

Thanh said while the M&A trend is growing in Viet Nam , attracting FDI through M&A only makes up around 5% of the total. However, he predicted it will increase along with the number of foreign businesses entering the country as Viet Nam meets it WTO commitments.

He said the proposed decree will ensure effective M&A and build a strict legal corridor, but also added there was a need to promote investment and this has not yet received proper attention from localities. (VNA)

Vietcombank going ahead with listing

Friday, April 18, 2008
Finally, Vietcombank has announced it will hold its first shareholders’ meeting on April 26, the first move in its plan to list on the bourse. The long silence of the bank since its IPO in December 2007 has made people think it forgot its promise to list.
The new stage in Vietcombank’s 45-year operation period will be marked on April 26, when Vietcombank holds its first shareholders’ meeting.
At the meeting, Viecombank’s shareholders will vote on the bank’s operation regulations, the number of management board and supervision board members. They will also approve the business plan for 2008-2013 and the business plan for 2008.
The plan to list Vietcombank shares at the HCM City Stock Exchange will also be discussed.
The listing is a part of the plan approved by the government to improve the position of Vietcombank in the capital market, heighten the transparency in corporate governance as well as to create liquidity for Vietcombank shares.
Vietcombank’s management board is expected to be authorised to go ahead with the listing plan, from selecting consultancy firms to following necessary procedures as stipulated by the laws.
The plan to list on the bourse will be made public after it gets approval from shareholders at the meeting. The listing, as previously planned, is expected to occur in June 2008.
After listing at the HCM City Stock Exchange, Vietcombank will also list its shares on foreign bourses. This issue will also be raised at the shareholders’ meeting on April 26, together with the issue of selecting foreign strategic partners for the bank.
After that shareholders’ meeting, Vietcombank, which has been known in Vietnam as a state owned bank, will shift to become operational under the mode of a joint stock bank.
Vietcombank has announced satisfactory business results for the first quarter of 2008, despite the big difficulties due to the tightened monetary policies. Its pre-tax profit was VND1,222bil, fulfilling 40% of the yearly plan.
In related news, Vietinbank, which was previously known as Incombank, is also moving ahead with its plan to make IPO.
JP Morgan has been chosen as the consultant for building up Vietinbank’s equitisation plan. It is expected that 25% of Vietinbank’s stakes will be sold to domestic and foreign investors at the IPO.
After the IPO, Vietinbank’s total assets are expected to reach VND180,000bil, including VND100,000bil worth of state owned capital. The bank may sell 24% more of stakes to the public by 2010 to reduce the state owned capital proportion to 51%. (TBKTVN)

Brokers reminded that banks must handle funds

Friday, April 18, 2008
The State Securities Commission (SSC) has ordered that stock brokerages must comply by October 1 with the Ministry of Finance regulation requiring investor capital to be held in commercial bank accounts, not in accounts controlled by the brokerages.
Ministry of Finance Decision No 27/QD-BTC of last year provided that securities companies were no longer allowed to hold client funds and mandated the companies to designate commercial banks as fiduciaries for client funds.
The securities companies were also required to announce the designated banks providing payment services within three days of signing contracts.
The State Securities Commission stated that nine stock brokerages have complied to these rules, including Gia Quyen, Ban Viet, Kim Eng, ACB, Au Lac, Sai Gon-Ha Noi, Viet, Dong Duong and Sen Vang securities companies. (VNS)

Can Tho Cement Co asks to list on Ha Noi bourse

Friday, April 18, 2008
Can Tho Cement Joint Stock Company has sent details to Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre in a bid to get a listing on the HASTC bourse.
Can Tho Cement Co, which has a charter capital of VND27.5 billion, produces construction materials and cement as well as importing and exporting spare parts and clinker for cement production.

April 18, Foreigners Net Buyers Of VND173.3 Billion Of Shares

Friday, April 18, 2008
April 18, Foreigners Net Buyers Of VND173.3 Billion Of Shares
Foreign investors were net buyers of VND173.3 billion ($ 10.86 million) of Vietnamese stocks Friday, out of a total VND499 billion traded, the Ho Chi Minh Securities Trading Center said.
Volume was 9.9 million shares, with foreigners accounting for 38.8% of the total, according to the stock market operator. (Dow Jones)

VND 1,000 billion Government bonds excite bidders

Friday, April 18, 2008
The fourth Government bond issuance by the State Treasury has been scheduled for April 25 with the total face value of VND 1,000 billion.
Bonds are due for five years from April 29, 2008 and can be sold at lower or higher price than the face value. Interest will be paid to the owners monthly on the issuance date and the outstanding will be settled on the bond’s expiry date.
After being issued, bonds will be listed on Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC).
Bidders can pursue bonds directly or through HASTC.
Deadline of bids is prior to 14.00 hours on April 25, 2008. Results will be announced the same day. (TBKTVN)

VND 6,500 billion valuable papers offered by ACB

Friday, April 18, 2008
Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) has been approved by the State Bank to issue long-term valuable papers with the face value of VND 6,500 billion. Under the State Bank Governor’s Decision, the issuance will be carried out in accordance with ACB’s proposals.
Interest rates are also defined so as to ensure the lucrative business and the safety of the bank’s operation and be relevant to the rate of the market.
The issuance of such valuable papers to foreign individuals and organisations will be in line with State Bank regulations and related legal documents.