VN-Index's early April plunge drags down profits Vietcap Securities

Proprietary trading activities face difficulties as VN-Index plummets

Vietcap Securities Joint Stock Company (VCI) has just announced its business results for the second quarter of 2025 with pre-tax profit decreasing by 38% compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, operating revenue in the second quarter of 2025 reached more than VND 1,163 billion, an increase of 25% compared to the second quarter of 2024. This growth mainly came from brokerage, lending and investment activities. However, explaining the decrease in profit in the last quarter, Mr. Doan Minh Thien, Deputy General Director of VCI, said that business operating expenses also increased by 61%.

"Despite recording revenue growth, unfavorable market developments have significantly affected business results. Specifically, in the second quarter of 2025, the VN-Index continuously decreased in April 2025, from 1,313 points to 1,073 points. This has caused the second quarter's costs to increase by 61%," said the VCI leader.

The fall in early April put great pressure on market sentiment, affecting liquidity and investment activities. Losses from selling financial assets recorded through profit/loss (FVTPL) amounted to VND645 billion, 3.4 times higher than the same period last year. Including profits from this activity, Vietcap Securities (VCI) still had a net loss of VND65 billion from FVTPL financial assets, while in the same period it had a profit of nearly VND261 billion.

With costs increasing by more than VND 361 billion over the same period, VCI's pre-tax profit decreased by VND 132 billion, equivalent to a decrease of more than 38% compared to the second quarter of 2024.

Second quarter business results at Vietcap Securities - Source: Financial statements

In the first 6 months of the year, VCI reported a pre-tax profit of nearly VND567 billion. In 2025, VCI set a revenue target of VND4,325 billion, an increase of more than 15%. Expenses are expected to increase by only 9%. Therefore, according to the plan, the target pre-tax profit is VND1,420 billion, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year. Compared to the plan, this securities company has currently achieved approximately 40% of the year's target.

Put your portfolio on the defensive: Increase bond weight , reduce stocks

By the end of the second quarter of 2025, Vietcap Securities' total assets had decreased to VND21,898 billion, marking the second consecutive quarter of shrinking in scale after peaking at the end of 2024 with asset value surpassing the billion USD mark for the first time (approximately VND26,600 billion). In terms of capital structure, VCI has sharply reduced short-term bank loans. The debt ratio decreased from more than 51% at the beginning of the year to 43% at the end of the second quarter of 2025.

Margin loans have not changed much and still account for a large proportion of total assets with more than VND 11,300 billion allocated to this item. Meanwhile, the amount of money (excluding bank deposits) has decreased sharply from more than VND 4,700 billion to VND 472 billion. At the same time, in the first half of the year, VCI has significantly adjusted its investment portfolio.

The total value of investments in unlisted bonds in the FPTVL financial assets group by the end of the second quarter of 2025 increased by VND 713.5 billion. On the contrary, the group of financial assets available for sale (AFS) decreased by nearly VND 300 billion. In total, the value of bonds in the investment portfolio still increased by more than VND 400 billion. Term deposits at banks also increased by VND 335 billion, from VND 598 billion to VND 933 billion.

On the contrary, VCI has reduced its stock investment proportion. Many stocks were sold significantly. The investment value in KDH shares (according to the purchase price) has decreased by more than 349 billion VND compared to the beginning of the year; at the same time, the market value of the investment here has also decreased by about half. The investment value according to the purchase price of STB shares has decreased by 150 billion VND, FPT has decreased by about 263 billion VND. Meanwhile, the company has increased its investment by buying new PNJ shares (nearly 80 billion VND) and disbursing an additional 168 billion VND in MBB shares.

The restructured portfolio also shows the more defensive orientation of this securities company when increasing the proportion of low-risk assets such as bonds and deposits, while divesting from some stocks in the context of strong market fluctuations.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/cu-lao-doc-dau-thang-4-cua-vn-index-keo-lui-loi-nhuan-chung-khoan-vietcap-d334929.html