VIB Bank launches E-Savings product

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Vietnam International Bank (VIB Bank) recently launched E-Savings product to all transaction sites nationwide whereby customers are allowed to receive a higher interest rate when their saving balance increasing respectively (progressive interest rate).
E-Savings was connected two-way automatic money delivery with payment deposit accounts to ensure payment capacity and receive progressive interest rates.
This product is suitable to all customers, especially those who prefer using modern technology

MHB securities arm to issue bonds

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank's securities arm MHBS recently announced that it would retail three million ensured non-convertible bonds worth 300 billion dong at 100,000 dong par and the selling price of 100,000 dong per bond for the first phase under the bank's payment guarantee.
These five-year bonds have a coupon rate of 10% per annum for the first year and that of following years negotiated based on Vibor interest rate (Vietnam interbank offer rate) on April 5 yearly.
The coupon rate will be paid yearly on May 5 and the principal will be paid once on the mature date.

Chuong Duong beverages firm to buy back 100,000 fund shares

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Chuong Duong Beverages Joint Stock Co (coded SCD) recently announced that within one-month from May 15 to June 15, the company would buy back 100,000 SCD-coded shares to make fund shares under the mode of order matching or negotiating, bringing the company's total fund shares to 106,950 shares.
Ending the trading session on May 8, SCD-coded shares closed at 19,700 dong per share, increasing 200 dong in comparison with the previous session with 34,880 shares being traded.

Descon construction firm to pay 15% dividend

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Descon Industry Construction Joint Stock Co (coded DCC) this year targets to reach 457.04 billion dong in revenue, 37.24 billion dong from pre tax profit, 26.322 billion dong from after tax profit and dividend of 15%.
The shareholders' meeting also reported the business result of 2007 with 387.759 billion dong in revenue, 27.059 billion dong from pre tax profit and 19.504 billion dong from after tax profit.

Ry Ninh II hydropower firm to pay dividend of 20%

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) yesterday May 8 announced that the registration deadline for Ry Ninh II Hydropower Joint Stock Co (coded RHC) to close the list of shareholders is on May 26 and the ex-interest date on May 22.
The company will pay a dividend of 20% for 2007 on August 9, 2008.

Yen Bai Cement to list on Hanoi Securities Trading Center

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Yen Bai Cement and Natural Minerals Joint Stock Co (coded YBC) will officially list on the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre from May 20. After that, the company will sell shares to strategic shareholders including Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank.
Being restructured from Yen Bai cement plant, last year the company reached a revenue of 161.1 billion dong, profit of 9.2 billion dong and return on equity at 26.87%.

Hapaco to buy back 500,000-1m fund shares

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Hai Phong Paper Joint Stock Co (Hapaco) and its subsidiaries announced that they would buy back from 500,000 to one million HAP-coded shares to make fund shares, said the listed firm's chair Vu Duong Hien.

The company's shareholders' meeting also released the business result during the first four months of the year with a revenue increasing 43.87% and profit up 61.48% against the same period of last year.

In the period of 2008-2010, Hapaco has been investing in three big realty projects including 21-storey HAP-REE building, International Maternity Hospital project and Dinh Vu South industrial zone project.

US stocks decline as AIG reveals need for cash, oil surges

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Wall Street ended the week with a big decline as investors grappled with two of the biggest threats to the economy: fallout from turmoil in the credit market and surging energy prices. All three major indexes suffered losses for the week.

Insurer American International Group Inc. helped send the Dow Jones industrial average down about 120 points after posting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss that rekindled anxiety about the strained state of the global financial system.

AIG reported it lost $7.81 billion — its second straight quarterly loss — and revealed plans to raise $12.5 billion in the coming months. The world's largest insurer, like many of its peers in the financial services sector, has seen its investments in the credit markets plunge in value.

Meanwhile, rising crude oil prices remained a source of worry for investors, as they had much of the week and in recent months. Oil futures rose above $126 a barrel for the first time, further stoking Wall Street's concerns about inflation that could curtail consumer spending. Light, sweet crude rose as high as $126.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling at a record $125.96. For the week, oil jumped nearly $10.

Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors said investors retreated primarily because of the AIG news.

"That news came as something of a surprise to some and a wake-up call to most that the financial-service companies are not yet out of the woods."

But Orlando noted that the market has pulled back this week after a sizable rebound in the last two months and that some investors might be eager to lock in profits while Wall Street irons out some concerns about the financial sector.

"Our view has been that the market, generally speaking, is in pretty good shape with the exception of the financial service companies and the consumer dictionary companies," he said, noting that the news from AIG is an important reminder of the troubles remaining among financials.

The Dow fell 120.90, or 0.94%, to 12,745.88.

Broader stock indicators were also lower a day after the stock market notched a modest advance. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.40, or 0.67%, to 1,388.28, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.72, or 0.23%, to 2,445.52.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.39%, the S&P 500 declined 1.81% and the Nasdaq lost 1.27%.
Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, stood at 3.78% late Friday, unchanged from late Thursday.

Gold prices advanced, while the dollar traded mixed against other major global currencies.

The economic figures arriving Friday underscored the slowdown in the U.S. economy. The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in March as demand for imports registered the biggest decline since the last recession was ending. The deficit stood at $58.2 billion, a decrease of 5.6% from February. The 2.9% drop in demand for imports was the steepest monthly decline since December 2001 — a month after the last recession ended.

Noman Ali, portfolio manager of U.S. equities for MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto, doesn't expect the market will test its March lows and said some of Wall Street's angst over rising oil prices is overdone.

"Our view is still positive on the market. Obviously oil is hurting but I think the consumer fiscal stimulus package is going to help," he said, referring to rebates the U.S. government is now distributing.

He contends the wealthier Americans who account for an outsize%age of U.S. consumer spending won't stop reaching into their wallets because of higher oil prices and that overall spending hold up better than some on Wall Street are predicting.

In corporate news, AIG fell $3.87, or 8.8%, to $40.28 after reporting its loss. The stock was by far the steepest decliner among the 30 that comprise the Dow industrials.

Citigroup Inc. said it hopes to shed between $400 billion and $500 billion in assets and increase revenue by 9% over the next few years as it tries to recover from big losses tied to deterioration in the mortgage and credit markets. Citi, one of the Dow 30 stocks, fell 67 cents, or 2.8%, to $23.63.

General Motors Corp., also a Dow component, fell 86 cents, or 4.1%, to $20.29 after reporting in a regulatory filing it would provide financial support to help settle the 10-week strike at auto parts supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.

Consumer electronics chain Circuit City Stores Inc. said it received a letter from suitor Blockbuster Inc. that the company's largest shareholder, financier Carl Icahn, is prepared to buy Circuit City even if the video rental chain can't win the necessary financing or shareholder approval.

Circuit City jumped 28 cents, or 5.9%, to $5.07, while Blockbuster slipped 2 cents to $2.66.

Investors' caution Friday precedes what will likely be a busy week of economic news now that the flow of quarterly earnings reports is beginning to ebb.
"Next week I think will be a fairly important economic week," Orlando said, pointing to expected reports on retail sales, retail inventories, industrial production and regional manufacturing.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.40 billion shares, compared with 3.70 billion traded Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.50, or 0.07%, to 720.05.
Overseas, Japan's stock market fell 2.06%. Britain's FTSE index fell 1.05%, Germany's DAX index fell 0.97%, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.88%.
___
The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 312.32, or 2.39%, at 12,745.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 25.62, or 1.81%, at 1,388.28. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week down 31.47, or 1.27%, at 2,445.52.

The Russell 2000 index finished the week down 5.69, or 0.78%, at 720.05.

The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index — a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies — ended Friday at 14,040.05, down 211.01 points, or 1.48%, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 15,259.58. (AP)

SE Asian Stocks - Mostly higher on week but Singapore falls

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Most Southeast Asian stock markets gained this week as surging oil prices lifted commodity plays such as Malaysia's Sime Darby, but Singapore fell as financials such as Singapore Exchange floundered.

The region's markets closed on Friday mostly flat. Malaysia .KLSE and the Philippines .PSI edged up 0.38 and 0.68% on Friday to bring the week's gains to 1.08 and 2.07% respectively.

Singapore eased 0.31% on Friday and Indonesia .JKSE closed 0.01% down, but the Jakarta index gained 1.4% for the week, while Singapore's Straits Times slid 2.3%. Its losses were outdone only by Viet Nam, which fell a further 4.2% this week.

Thai shares .SETI closed 0.41% lower despite expectations that energy shares would rise on record oil prices CLc1, but top energy firm PTT closed flat.

Analysts said global share markets were generally softer over the last week due to to high oil prices.

"We expect a renewed bout of weakness over the next few months as credit markets remain difficult," said Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Economist at AMP Capital Investors.

He said deteriorating global economic conditions will lead to profit downgrades.

In Singapore, bourse operator SGX led losses, falling 3% to end the week 6.2% lower.

The exchange also had to deal with complaints over technical glitches. Traders said on Friday they could not see buy and sell orders entered by other dealers for four hours.

SGX said it was due to "connectivity issues at the primary telecommunications provider".

Bucking the downtrend were commodities firm Noble Group, which rose by as much as 10.6% before paring those gains to close up 1.2%. The firm said on Thursday its first-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled on strong demand for food, energy and raw materials.

Palm oil producer Wilmar International also rose 1.7%, while Malaysian plantation giant Sime Darby gained half a% or 2.2% for the week.

Banks in Kuala Lumpur also rose after a 25% stake in the country's fourth largest lender RHB Capital was sold to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ADCB.AD. RHB gained half a% intraday but closed 1% down, while top lender Maybank gained 1.3% and third ranked Public Bank climbed 1.7%.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese stocks .VNI slid 1.5% to close at 500.33 points on Friday, bringing its losses this year to 46%, but analysts said it could have
been worse.

"The index remains above 500 points thanks to foreign investors who saved the market from plunging by pumping in more than 4 trillion dong in ... April," said Bui Ngoc Long, Marketing Director at International Royal Securities.

"Investors are expecting room for expansion by foreign investors." (Reuters)

Mobifone to build additional transceiver stations

Saturday, May 10, 2008
To maintain the title of the best mobile network in Vietnam, the Mobile Telecom Services Company (VMS MobiFone) plans to build an additional 6,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) nationwide, bringing the total number of its BTS to nearly 10,000 by late 2008, said the company on May 5.
The company also plans to improve the quality of its services for customers and to have 6.5 million new subscribers in 2008.
In the coming time, the company will also equip its networks with modern technologies.