Week 28/11 – 02/12

Corporate News

CTG VN Vietinbank plans to offer VND9trl of non-convertible bonds without warrants and collateral in two tranches through 3Q next year. Under new plan, first tranche includes VND2trl of 8-year bonds and VND3trl of 10-year bonds, slated for sale in 4Q to 1Q 2023. Second tranche comprises VND1.5trl of 8-year bonds and VND2.5trl of 10-year bonds, scheduled for 2Q-3Q 2023. Interest rates unfixed for all bonds during entire terms. Proceeds will be for loans to manufacturing, electricity, fuel production and distribution and other sectors.

Comment: Expect to see a lot of companies continuing to rush to figure out how to raise capital to roll over their bonds. Don’t forget that a silly amount of the property companies issued short term debt to buy land and then took a bet on being able to refinance.

HDB VN plans to offer up to USD500m worth of international bonds. HDB is seeking shareholders’ approval for its plan to issue as much as USD500m worth of international convertible, unsecured bonds without warrants for foreign investors in 2023-2024, the lender says on its website. The bonds to be issued via private placement at expected price of USD100,000 per note. Maturity term at 5 years and 1 day, no specific interest rate given. The lender is also seeking to increase foreign ownership to 20% from current 18% and its registered capital to raised to VND25.3trl from about VND20.3trel currently.

Comment: Banks that have access to capital, will capture the market, I can imagine the # of financial institutions halving in VN over the next 5-8 years.

NVL VN No Va Land Investment Group is working with stakeholders, foreign partners, experts at EY-Parthenon and law firm YKVN to introduce comprehensive restructuring measures to stabilize operations. Measures include cutting unnecessary industries, reducing staff and adjusting strategies, statement says without giving further details on the plan. Co. is seeking shareholders’ approval to elect a new board of directors with 5 members, from 7 currently, and parent NovaGroup chairman Bui Thanh Nhon returning to lead the board. Besides, Novagroup JSC, which relates to BoD member Hoang Thu Chau, sold 12.72mn NVL shares via order matching and block traded methods on Nov 22, thus decreasing its stake from 37.0201% to 36.461% (710.93mn shares). Besides, Bui Cao Nhat Quan sold 5mn shares on Nov 28 while Mrs. Cao Thi Ngoc Suong sold 29.04mn shares via the same method from Nov 23 to Nov 28  due to the force-sell of her brokerage company. At the end, the stakes of Mr. Quan and Mrs. Suong decreased to 4.1275% (78.24mn shares) and 2.7884% (54.37mn shares), respectively.

Comment: The family has been putting up private assets for sale for the past 3-4 months. And that includes cars, yachts, alcohol collection (I know who they offered to hahaha…)

PDR VN: announced early redemption of all bonds PDRH2123009 with the total volume of issuance at par value of VND150 bn. PDR has just approved the policy of transferring nearly 28.5 mn ordinary shares (VND285 bn), equivalent to 88.99% of charter capital of Hoa Binh Real Estate Joint Stock Company.

Comment: Right….so they issued a bunch of bonds, which then crapped out along with the market, and are buying it back at discounts from the retail investors are a great discount. Clever…or cheeky…or just VN.

VIC VN: TCBS recently announced the completion of principal and interest payments for a lot of bonds with a par value of VND2,280 bn issued by VinFast Manufacturing and Trading Joint Stock Company and by Technology Securities Company.

VNM VN Vinamilk invests in two projects to increase production capacity. VNM invests in the Hung Yen dairy plant and the US$130m Moc Chau dairy complex, two projects that will increase the company’s 20% production capacity. Hung Yen dairy plant will connect existing Vinamilk dairy farms, warehouses, and distribution systems and will produce a variety of dairy products to increase supply to Northern Vietnam and for export to ASEAN regions, China, Japan, and South Korea amongst others. Moc Chau dairy complex project will be implemented in two phases and will ultimately produce up to 1,000 tonnes per day. VNM also diversified into the powdered milk segment with two factories in Vietnam.

VPB VN VPBank receives a 5-year loan of up to US$150mn from IFC, according to the Vietnam bank’s emailed statement. This loan is to support the growth of VPB’s loan portfolio for small and medium-sized enterprises, with relevant focus on women-led/owned SMEs financing and eligible climate-related projects.

Comment: See HDB

Country

• Vietnam has the potential to be a regional logistics hub, but issues in policy, infrastructure and human resources remain to be solved. Vietnam logistics industry is estimated at $40-42 bn and recording double-digit growth. It ranked 11th out of 50 markets in the Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index 2022, but fourth in international logistics opportunities, behind China, India and Mexico.
• Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged HCMC to speed up the disbursement of public investment to further boost economic growth.
• In the first half of November, Vietnam imported 380,877 tons of petroleum of all kinds with a turnover of more than $360 mn (+22% MoM). Notably, gasoline had an import volume of 177,970 tons (three times higher MoM); turnover is more than $157 mn. For 11M22, Vietnam imported more than 7.5 mn tons of petroleum of all kinds (+24% in volume YoY) with a turnover of $7.8 bn (+ 122% YoY). Particularly, gasoline products reached nearly 1.6 mn tons (+128% YoY), with a value of $1.7 bn.
• Vietnam’s seafood exports this year could reach $11 billion for the first time, spearheaded by shrimp, pangasius and tuna, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
• Vietnam’s agricultural sector is expected to grow strongly thanks to several agricultural products receiving green clearance to enter major international markets.
• For 10M22, the import and export turnover of goods between Vietnam and the EU reached $52.5 bn (+14% YoY); in which, exports reached $39.7 bn (+23.5% YoY). EU is currently Vietnam’s top trading partner and the third largest export market with an average export growth rate of 7.5%, accounting for an average share of 13.6% of the total export from the period of 2015 – 2021.
• Quanta Computer, Apple’s major contract maker of MacBook, is considering setting up factories in Vietnam as Apple is diversifying production lines, according to Taipei-based DigiTimes reports. Quanta is asking employees about their willingness to set up factories in Vietnam. Quanta declined to comment to DigiTimes.
• For 11M22, the total import-export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products are estimated at $90.2 bn (+9.5% YoY). Of which, exports were about $49 bn (+12%, YoY) and imports were about $41.2 bn (+7% YoY). Hence, the trade balance of is tilted towards a trade surplus of $7.8 bn (+48% YoY).