Securities firms report bumper earnings despite challenges

A number of securities firms posted huge profits in the first quarter of this year, but many were in difficulty although the market is recovering.

To date, 78 securities firms have reported their first quarter's business results, with total pre-tax profit reaching nearly 1.4 trillion VND (67.3 million USD), more than doubling the figure of the same period last year.
A number of securities firms posted huge profits in the first quarter ofthis year, but many were in difficulty although the market isrecovering.

According to the statistics of Dau Tu Chung Khoan(Securities Investment) newspaper, to date, 78 securities firms havereported their first quarter's business results, with total pre-taxprofit reaching nearly 1.4 trillion VND (67.3 million USD), more thandoubling the figure of the same period last year.

Notably, thegain was mostly registered by 30 companies, which each earned upwards of2 billion VND (95,000 USD), including FPT Securities (FPTS),Vietcombank Securities and VNDirect Securities.

FPTS reported thefirst quarter's profit at 38.6 billion VND (1.8 million USD) and nearly70 billion VND (3.3 million USD), which is 68 percent and 43 percenthigher, respectively, than the same period last year. FPTS attributedits soaring profit to the recovery in the stock market, which helped toboost the revenue from brokerage.

VNDirect Securities also gained59.3 billion VND (2.8 million VND) in pre-tax profits, or equivalent toa 110 percent growth rate over the same period last year.

The turnover from brokerage activities constituted 46 percent of VNDirect's 104.5 billion VND (4.9 million USD) total revenue.

Therevenue from the brokerage of Vietcombank Securities also soared bynearly 100 percent to reach nearly 30 billion VND (1.42 million USD) outof the net revenue of 109.4 billion VND (5.2 million USD).

TheVietcombank Securities' after-tax profits jumped 315.4 percent over thesame period last year to reach 40 billion VND (1.9 million USD) in thisyear's first quarter.

Sai Gon Securities, one of the securitiesfirms with the largest brokerage market share, also gained 303 billionVND (14.4 million USD) in after-tax profits. Other securities firms thatposted profits were Hai Phong Securities, Kim Long Securities, SaiGon–Hanoi Securities, and Agribank Securities.

The growth of manysecurities firms in the first quarter of this year mainly came from thesoaring brokerage revenue, which analysts attributed to the recovery inthe stock market.

Statistics revealed that the VN-Index on theHo Chi Minh City Exchange soared 17.23 percent during the first quarter.The southern bourse's total trading volume and value reached 7.69billion shares and 130.6 trillion VND (6.2 billion USD), rising by morethan 40 percent and 69 percent over the figures reported during theprevious quarter.

On the northern bourse, the trading volume andvalue also strongly increased, with 4.7 billion shares traded during thefirst quarter of this year, increasing by 70 percent, with the totalvalue reaching 47.5 trillion VND (2.2 billion USD), more than doublingthe figures recorded in the previous quarter.

Although the marketrebounded, 18 companies incurred losses in the first quarter, totalling15.6 billion VND (743,000 USD). In addition, 30 companies had aturnover from brokerage - their core business - of less than 1 billionVND (47,000 USD), modest in comparison with their total charter capitalof 5.44 trillion VND (259 million USD).

Securities firms couldcontinue to encounter difficulty this year, after more than 60 percent(58 out of 94 companies) posted aggregated losses last year, the financeministry's statistics showed, as a result of the market decline in thepast few years.

The restructuring of securities firms isunderway, and the State Securities Commission had previously said thatit would create favourable conditions for the companies to hasten theprocess through mergers and acquisitions.-VNA

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