With strong support from cash flow, VN-Index has surpassed the historical peak set in 2022 - Photo: QUANG DINH
Many companies in the top market share group such as HSC, MAS, KIS... have almost run out of room for lending. If the market's upward momentum continues, the pressure to raise additional capital to expand lending capacity will soon become a matter of survival.
Money invested in stocks increased sharply, margin debt also set a record
In the early second quarter of 2025, the market witnessed a shock related to US tariffs but soon recovered quickly and strongly. Margin loans at securities companies continued to increase to a record level.
Total outstanding securities loans (including margin and advances) at 38 securities companies (SCs) recorded in the last quarter reached nearly VND286,500 billion, setting a new high for the industry.
Margin lending rates have also been adjusted upward, helping to improve profit margins after a period of fierce competition at the beginning of the year. However, the ability to expand margin - an important "ammunition source" for some large securities companies - is gradually running out.
According to regulations, each securities company is only allowed to lend margin up to 2 times its equity. Summary statistics show that the remaining lending space (the ratio between current outstanding debt and the maximum limit) has decreased to 45.6%, the lowest since the second quarter of 2022 and down nearly 3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
Notably, when this ratio fell below 50% in the period 2020 - 2021, the market entered a period of overheating and continuously narrowed lending space. The lowest level ever recorded was nearly 29% in the second quarter of 2021, right before the VN-Index reached its historical peak.
Many companies in the top brokerage market share are close to their lending limits.
Currently, there are more than 10 large and small securities companies with margin space below 29%, including names in the top 10 brokerage market share group such as HSC, MBS, MAS, KIS, VCBS.
More than 10 large and small securities companies have margin space below 29%
In this group, HSC, MAS, KIS are particularly noteworthy as lending space is almost exhausted.
The most prominent is HSC Securities (HCM) with many quarters maintaining outstanding debt around VND20,000 billion, although HSC's board of directors set a lending target of VND27,000 billion in 2025.
While waiting for the new capital increase to be implemented in the third quarter of 2025, the company is being left behind in the race for outstanding debt scale, when two major competitors, SSI and TCBS, have both increased their loan levels to over VND33,000 billion.
HSC was forced to pivot to self-trading, "buying the bottom" and adding more than 1,400 billion VND to its stock portfolio in the second quarter of 2025 to maintain efficiency.
Meanwhile, two securities companies from South Korea, Mirae Asset Vietnam (MAS) and KIS Vietnam, are also facing major barriers in terms of lending limits. If they do not receive new capital from their parent companies soon, the risk of losing market share to domestic competitors that are being heavily capitalized is completely present.
The trading market share of Mirae Asset Securities and KIS on HOSE decreased to 3.5% and 3.13% in the last quarter.
In the context of the market continuing to attract cash flow, VN-Index nearing its all-time peak, margin demand will continue to increase sharply from individual investors. This means that the pressure on securities companies will be even heavier if they do not have time to upgrade their equity "containers".
Past experience shows that periods of margin tension are often associated with hot market cycles and investors are also sensitive to lending data from large securities companies.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/margin-cang-nhu-day-dan-nhieu-cong-ty-chung-khoan-lon-sap-can-room-luc-thi-truong-bung-no-20250726190946672.htm
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