Thursday, April 10, 2008
VietinBank-the new brand name of Incombank from 15 April

The new brand name of Viet Nam Bank for Industry and Trade will be changed from Incombank to VietinBank in all branches nationwide from 15 April, said the Bank at a press conference in Hanoi today, 10 April.

The renaming of the Bank aims to meet the new opportunities and challenges of the renewal process and international economic integration of the nation. Its legal name which had from 1988 will not change.

The Bank logo is a special design of the “VietinBank” letters and a symbol of the rising Earth embracing an ancient coin. The VietinBank brand logo expresses the union of the Heaven and the Earth, Yin and Yang (two complementary principles of Chinese philosophy) as a stable and perfect composition. The overall image of the symbol expresses a brightening dawn with a rising sun and an orbit movement, representing the motions and harmony of the Heaven and the Earth in the universe.

The core brand identity system has been designed based on the values of VietinBank brand name, representing the specific nature and spirit of products and services offered by the Bank.

One of the leading commercial banks in Viet Nam, after 20 years of operation, VietinBank has developed and reached great achievements in all business fields, making considerable contribution to the efficient implementation of monetary policy, enhanced economic growth, and improving competitiveness given Viet Nam’s international economic integration. The Bank operates in 56 out of 64 provinces and cities of the nation with 3 main transaction centers, 138 branches and over 700 transaction and saving offices.

Moreover, with the target of becoming a modern and universal financial group, VietinBank has correspondent banking relationships with more than 800 banks in 80 countries and territories worldwide.

By the end of 2007, total assets of VietinBank were 175 trillion VND, accounting for 15% of total assets of the whole banking system, total mobilized funds increased by 18.4%, and total loans and investments increased by 22.6%. Especially, the non-performing loan ratio remained at a low level of 1.02% (lower than the regulated 3% set by the State Bank of Viet Nam). (CPV)

Reports and forecasts good for…?

Thursday, April 10, 2008
On April 7, when the stock market was on the rise after a long time of sliding, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) released a report with pessimistic forecasts about the world’s stocks, including Viet Nam’s. The report has raised questions about the consistency of HSBC’s reports about Viet Nam’s market.

In its report released in early January 2008 about investment strategies for the first quarter of 2008, HSBC, as an investor, did not put high expectations on Vietnam’s market. High risks from inflation and high stock prices were the two factors that made the group decide to lower its investment ratio in Vietnam from 2% to 0.5%. However, the report still predicted that the VN Index would hit 1,100 points by the end of 2008.

The report was named: “Pan-Asian Equity Strategy: Snakes and Ladders”.

In the first quarter of the year, the group continuously released reports about Vietnam or reports that mentioned Vietnam’s situation. On February 29, 2008, HSBC, for the first time, added Vietnam to the list of recommended Asian investment addresses (referred to as ‘OverWeight’).

The report said that Vietnam’s stock market was in the final stage of its period of decline, advising investors to buy stocks at that moment, especially technologies stocks.

The report was named: “Al-Asia Insight”.

In “Vietnam Monitor” (the latest volume was released on April 2, 2008), the group reiterated its prediction that the VN Index would hit the 1,100 point threshold.

As such, through the end of the first quarter of 2008, HSBC’s viewpoint about Vietnam’s stock market was always consistent, though the market frequently fluctuated during that time.

Abrupt about-face

However, in its Q2 report released on April 7, HSBC forecast that the VN Index would only hit 600 points instead of 1,100 points by the end of 2008, and 750 points instead of 1,300 in 2009.

There was no big change in the team that made the series of reports. The team of the February 29 report was Garry Evans, Steven Sun, Akane Nishizaki, Jacqueline Tse, Vivek Misra, and Leo Li. All except Vivek Misra contributed to the report released April 7.

Reports good for…?

In early January, when the VN Index hovered around 900 points, HSBC gave an optimistic prediction that the VN Index would be 1,100 points by the end of 2008. After that, the index began sliding continuously sliding, under 870 points, 850 and then 800.

At the end of February, HSBC advised investors to buy stocks, but the market dropped even further, bottoming out below the 500-point threshold, at 496.64 points, on March 25.

Its latest report, released on April 7, HSBC advised investors to reduce share purchases. However, investors did not do as advised. Foreign investors still purchased big volumes. On April 9, foreign investors purchased nearly 1/3 of the total trading volume at the HCM City Stock Exchange. (VNN)Vietnam Business Finance - http://www.vnbusinessfinance.com
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Reports and forecasts good for…?

On April 7, when the stock market was on the rise after a long time of sliding, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) released a report with pessimistic forecasts about the world’s stocks, including Viet Nam’s. The report has raised questions about the consistency of HSBC’s reports about Viet Nam’s market.

In its report released in early January 2008 about investment strategies for the first quarter of 2008, HSBC, as an investor, did not put high expectations on Vietnam’s market. High risks from inflation and high stock prices were the two factors that made the group decide to lower its investment ratio in Vietnam from 2% to 0.5%. However, the report still predicted that the VN Index would hit 1,100 points by the end of 2008.

The report was named: “Pan-Asian Equity Strategy: Snakes and Ladders”.

In the first quarter of the year, the group continuously released reports about Vietnam or reports that mentioned Vietnam’s situation. On February 29, 2008, HSBC, for the first time, added Vietnam to the list of recommended Asian investment addresses (referred to as ‘OverWeight’).

The report said that Vietnam’s stock market was in the final stage of its period of decline, advising investors to buy stocks at that moment, especially technologies stocks.

The report was named: “Al-Asia Insight”.

In “Vietnam Monitor” (the latest volume was released on April 2, 2008), the group reiterated its prediction that the VN Index would hit the 1,100 point threshold.

As such, through the end of the first quarter of 2008, HSBC’s viewpoint about Vietnam’s stock market was always consistent, though the market frequently fluctuated during that time.

Abrupt about-face

However, in its Q2 report released on April 7, HSBC forecast that the VN Index would only hit 600 points instead of 1,100 points by the end of 2008, and 750 points instead of 1,300 in 2009.

There was no big change in the team that made the series of reports. The team of the February 29 report was Garry Evans, Steven Sun, Akane Nishizaki, Jacqueline Tse, Vivek Misra, and Leo Li. All except Vivek Misra contributed to the report released April 7.

Reports good for…?

In early January, when the VN Index hovered around 900 points, HSBC gave an optimistic prediction that the VN Index would be 1,100 points by the end of 2008. After that, the index began sliding continuously sliding, under 870 points, 850 and then 800.

At the end of February, HSBC advised investors to buy stocks, but the market dropped even further, bottoming out below the 500-point threshold, at 496.64 points, on March 25.

Its latest report, released on April 7, HSBC advised investors to reduce share purchases. However, investors did not do as advised. Foreign investors still purchased big volumes. On April 9, foreign investors purchased nearly 1/3 of the total trading volume at the HCM City Stock Exchange. (VNN)

Viet Nam banks see profit growth slowing in 2008

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Two of Viet Nam's top three lenders by assets expect their profit growth to slow sharply in 2008 as the government takes measures to battle double-digit inflation.

State-run BIDV, Viet Nam's second-largest lender by assets, said on Thursday it planned to curb lending and expects annual gross profit growth to slow to 49% after surging 82% last year.

Total assets of the Hanoi-based BIDV, or the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam, reached 211.6 trillion dong ($13.3 billion) at the end of March, 3.5% up from the end of last year, Chairman Tran Bac Ha told a news conference.

Ha said the bank is targeting a 23% rise in total assets this year from 204.51 trillion dong at the end of 2007.

Earlier on Thursday, Vietinbank's Chairman Pham Huy Hung told Reuters that the bank, Viet Nam's third-largest lender by assets, expects its profit growth to slow to between 50% and 60% this year after jumping nearly 84% last year.

The State Bank of Viet Nam, or the central bank, has told banks to cap lending at 30% this year and it tightened money supply in the first quarter as inflation hit 19.3% in March from a year earlier, the highest in more than 12 years.

BIDV's Ha said that though annual credit growth has been set, lending to export companies which deal with seasonal agricultural products can rise beyond the central bank's cap during a season.

"We have therefore proposed the government and the central bank to adjust the credit growth up to 35%," he said.

IPO CANDIDATES

Ha said the Finance Ministry was working on a timetable for the initial public offerings of major state-owned firms this year, but that BIDV had no plans to change the timing of its IPO.

"We wish and have reaffirmed to the government that we want to do it within this year," Ha said.

BIDV, one of five state-run commercial banks which the government initially ordered to sell shares to the public in 2007 and 2008, has hired U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley to advise on the IPO.

Vietinbank has said it planned to come out its initial public offering this year, pending government approval. (Reuters)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Foreigners Net Buyers Of VND227.8 Billion Of Shares

Foreign investors were net buyers of VND227.8 billion ($ 13.3 million) of Vietnamese stocks Thursday, out of a total VND447 billion traded, the Ho Chi Minh Securities Trading Center said.

Volume was 9.05 million shares, with foreigners accounting for 40.6%, said the stock market operator. (Dow Jones)

BIDV 2007 Pretax Profit VND2.1 Trillion Vs VND650 Billion

The state-owned Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) made a pretax profit of VND2.1 trillion last year, more than double 2006's VND650 billion, a bank official said Thursday.

At the end of 2007, the unlisted Hanoi-based bank had total assets of VND201.38 trillion, up from VND158.16 trillion, said BIDV Deputy General Director Phan Thi Chinh.

Its outstanding loans rose 34% on year to VND131.98 trillion, she said, adding that bad debts accounted for 3.98% of its total debts, down from 9.6% in 2006.

BIDV's return on assets - as per international financial reporting standards - was 0.89% last year, compared with 0.4% in 2006, while its return on equity was 25.01%, up from 14.23%.

In the first quarter of this year, the bank made a pretax profit of VND754 billion - or 25% of its target for this year.

BDIV General Director Tran Bac Ha said the bank is aiming for its outstanding loans to rise 25.4% on year in 2008.

Ha added that BIDV has asked the government to lower its corporate income tax rate to 25% next year onwards from the current 28%.

He said that BIDV plans to hold an initial public offering in 2008, and the Ministry of Finance will set the date. (Dow Jones)

SHB and LILAMA IC ink capital assistance contract

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sai Gon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) branches in Danang and Ho Chi Minh City on April 9 inked a capital assistance contract with LILAMA IC in Danang city.
SHB in Danang will act as a capital supplier for LILAMA IC’s projects in Ho Chi Minh City.
The two branches of SHB will also create favourable conditions for LILAMA IC’s staff to apply for bank loans for procurement of essential facilities including cars, house construction as well as other SHB services.

Banks raise chartered capital to expand securities loans

05:30' 10/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Commercial banks are rushing to raise their chartered capital, as they want to expand loans for securities investments.
Eximbank said that it plans to raise its chartered capital from VND2,800bil ($175mil) to VND7,380bil ($461.25mil) in 2008, which will help improve its financial capability and help it to expand securities credit.
Under the new regulations on funding securities investments, banks’ loans to securities investors must not exceed 20% of banks’ chartered capital. With VND2,800bil in chartered capital, Eximbank can use VND560bil ($35mil) at maximum for lending to securities investors. However, if the bank’s chartered capital is raised to VND7,380bil, the bank can lend up to VND1,476bil ($92.25mil) to securities investors.
Eximbank still considers securities credit a good business, and if banks can control risks well to optimise profit, they can get fat profit from the business.
Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) is one of the banks with the highest proportion of securities loans among commercial banks. However, it had to reduce securities loans after the central bank released the decision on tightening securities credit.
However, the bank said that it has not given up its plan to expand securities loans. After raising its chartered capital from VND2,630bil ($164.37mil) to VND6,355bil ($397.18mil) this year as expected, the bank’s capability to fund securities investment will be considerably improved.
In fact, experts have warned that lending for securities investments is highly risky. However, this still attracts bankers as it is a new kind of business in Vietnam, and there is still much room for banks. Many banks plan to focus on securities credit as they find it hard to compete with older banks in other services.
Western Bank has completed the increase of its chartered capital from VND200bil ($12.5mil) to VND1tril ($62.5mil), which means that it will be able to lend VND200bil ($12.5mil) to securities investors from the previous level of VND40bil ($2.5mil). The bank is now planning to push up securities loans with diversified products.
A similar plan is also being followed by Pacific Bank as the bank plans to raise its chartered capital from VND566.5bil ($35.4mil) to VND2,000tril ($125mil) in 2008.

Government’s solutions synchronous and comprehensive: expert

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Truong Dinh Tuyen, former Minister of Trade, now the Member of the National Advisory Council for Finance and Monetary Policies, talks about inflation and the measures to fight inflation.

What do you think about the current situation? Do you think that inflation is really as worrying as experts say?

The inflation now is not as high as the galloping inflation seen in late 1980s of the last century. At that time, the inflation rate was over 700%. International institutions all say that Vietnam has a firm foundation for high growth in the medium and long term. However, the inflation rate of 12.63% in 2007 was really worryingly high and we must reduce the rate in 2008.

The high inflation in Vietnam has been caused by the combination of the monetary policies (the high total payment instruments and high credit), push cost (the domestic prices have been pushed up due to the higher prices in the world. Vietnam’s export turnover was equal to 160% of GDP, while import turnover 90% of GDP), and demand push (higher domestic consumption and investment demand and higher demand in the world, which both lead to higher export price and higher domestic prices).

Some experts said that the world’s price increases have impacts on all countries in the world, but the inflation rates in other countries are not as high as in Vietnam. In fact, the prices are skyrocketing in all those countries.

The Government has put forward a lot of measures, determined to restrain inflation. Do you think that the ‘remedies’ are suitable for the national economy?

The measures to fight inflation mentioned in the Prime Minister’s article prove to be synchronous and comprehensive. However, the success of the measures depends on the implementation of the measures. For example, we know that it is necessary to tighten the monetary policies, but how tight should the monetary policies be?

We need to tighten the monetary policies, but we must ensure the liquidity and create favourable conditions for export and production.

The State Bank applied strong measures to tighten the monetary policies, but the measures badly affected the liquidity. And the State Bank had to spend money to improve the liquidity. Luckily, the problem was settled. I think this was the reason why the Prime Minister, in his article, emphasized that we need to tighten monetary policies, but ensure the liquidity.

I think we also have to think carefully about cutting the investments by state owned enterprises and the public investments which account for 45% of the total society’s investments. How much should they cut investments? There has been no exact figure, but I think the Government needs to fix the investment ratios.

What is your comment about the suggested solutions that the Government should cut off 20% of ineffective state-funded investment projects?

The experts might have their arguments while making the suggestions. However, I cannot comment about the ratio of 20% because I have not heard their arguments.

I agree with Dr Nguyen Dinh Cung (head of the Macroeconomic Management Division under the Central Institute for Economic Management) that the Government should decentralize in slashing investments. Local authorities are the bodies which grant investment licenses and they know which are ineffective ones and need to be cut.

What would you say about the current stock market?

I don’t think that the stock market is the thermometer of the economy, because our market is quite small with few listed companies and low value in comparison with GDP. I don’t think that it is necessary to use administrative measures to interfere with the market. I have to say that I personally think that it is necessary to control the portfolio investments by foreign investors and I still have doubts about the policy that allows foreign investors to pay in dollars for share transactions.(DTCK)

Vincom to sell $125 mln bonds on April 18

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Property developer Vincom (VIC), Viet Nam's seventh-largest listed firm, said on Tuesday it would raise 2 trilion dong ($125 million) via a bond sale later this month to further fund projects in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vincom started work on building a office and hotel complex, underground parking and a commercial centre in Ho Chi Minh City last year with investment totalling $300 million.

The five-year bonds would be issued on April 18 and advised by Agriseco, the securities broking arm of Viet Nam's largest lender, Agribank, the Hanoi-based Vincom said in a statement.

Vincom said the bonds would carry a fixed coupon for the first year and a floating rate for subsequent years, subject to agreement with investors later, while the total funds expected could expand to 2.6 trillion dong depending on actual demand.

Proceeds would go to the construction of the projects in Ho Chi Minh City's downtown area, Vincom's management board said in a separate document seen by Reuters.

The bonds issued this month will be the company's second corporate debt on sale. Last October, Vincom raised 1 trillion dong via a five-year bond to finance the Ho Chi Minh City's $300 million property project.

The debt carried an annual coupon of 10.3%.

Shares in Vincom closed up 1.69% at 90,500 dong ($5.67) each on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) on Tuesday, valuing the company at nearly $454 million, the seventh-largest among the 153 listed firms on the exchange. (Reuters)

April 08, Huge number of stock brought onto the market

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) today April 08 continued increasing on the stock market as the VN-Index jumped 6.23 points or 1.14% to end at 548.56 pts with the total matching order trade of 25,603,980 shares and fund certificates worth over 1.244 trillion dong, marking a new record of trading volume and turnover in comparison with the earlier record of 25,046,350 shares on March 10.

Among 153 shares and fund certificates being listed on the southern bourse, the stock market recorded9shares hitting the ceiling price, 12 others remained unchanged and 43 shares decreasing.

Out of key stocks, SSI lost 500 dong to 59,000 dong per share and FPT slipped 1,000 dong to 98,500 dong per share. Others like STB and PPC up 700 dong to 39,700 dong and 40,000 dong per share, HPG and DPM leaped 1,000 dong to 70,500 dong and 52,000 dong per share, VNM, VPL and PVD jumped 2,000 dong to 117,000, 127,000 and 113,000 dong per share.

SSI took the pole place in trading volume with over 3.7 million shares being traded and followed by STB with over 3.6 million shares, DPM with 2,428,410 shares and others like PPC, HPG, FPT and REE.

Foreign investors bought over five million shares with the biggest trading volume of 892,990 SSI-coded shares and followed by DPM with 616,290 shares and other Blue-chips.

The Hanoi Securities Trading Center (HaSTC) tumbled on the stock market when the HaSTC Index fell 0.78 points or 0.39% to end at 197.55 pts with the total market trade of 13,141,500 shares worth over 576 billion dong.

Amongst 132 listed shares on the northern bourse, the stock market saw 25 shares decreasing while 95 others increasing, 11 shares stood still and one share with no trades.

The sole share with no trades was HSC.

11 stood still including BBS, BHV, BTS, LBE, PPG, SD7, SDY, SJE, TKU, TLC, TXM, VFR and VNR.

KBC was the biggest decliner when losig 2,400 dong and followed by VSP lost 1,100 dong and others lost below 1,000 dong per share.

KLS reached the biggest trading volume with 1,419,600 shares, followed by ACB with 983,700 shares, PVS with 893,100, PVI with 696,600, TBC with 608,500 and HPC with 540,200 shares being trade.