Many 'big goods' are about to hit the market

Waiting for new stocks

On January 17, about 3.1 billion BSR shares of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company will officially trade on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE).

Vietnam's stock market in 2025 will have many growth opportunities

With a reference price on the first trading day of VND21,300/share, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company is currently valued at more than VND66,000 billion, equivalent to more than USD2.6 billion. Managing and operating Dung Quat Oil Refinery, a national key project with a total investment of over USD3 billion, a processing capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil per year, accounting for about 30% of Vietnam's energy demand, so although it has been traded on UPCoM, BSR's listing on HOSE still attracts the attention of investors and is expected to help the stock market in general and HOSE in particular become more vibrant. Because according to investors and financial experts, HOSE has higher listing conditions and standards, helping the company improve transparency, brand, access to capital and attract more strategic investors.

Similarly, the information about transferring shares from UPCoM to HOSE listing in 2025 announced by the leaders of Masan Consumer Corporation (MCH) is also important news for investors. Because this is an important company of Masan Group, MCH shares have recently increased continuously, surpassing VND 130,000, bringing Masan Consumer's market capitalization to over VND 168,000 billion, equivalent to more than USD 6.5 billion. According to a report by HSBC, Masan Consumer has high profit margins, stable revenue growth and significantly outperforms its peers in the FMCG and packaged food sectors in the region.

From 2017 to 2023, Masan Consumer will grow at a rate 2.2x faster than the general market. Like BSR, although MCH shares are not unfamiliar to investors, when they move to HOSE, they will create a new breeze for the company's shareholders in particular and the market in general.

Notably, after a sluggish year with no initial public offerings (IPOs) to list on the stock exchange, many units have planned to do so this year. For example, the "big guy" Vinpearl, a member of Vingroup, will offer more than 70 million shares in the first quarter of 2025. With an offering price of VND71,350/share, Vinpearl is expected to collect about VND5,000 billion and its charter capital is expected to increase to nearly VND18,000 billion.

This resort real estate giant has also completed many mergers and acquisitions deals recently. Many investors assess the attractiveness of Vinpearl shares as supported by the plan to list shares after IPO, which was also revealed at the shareholder meeting of parent company Vingroup. In addition, many other enterprises are also preparing for IPO plans, such as two large retailers, Mobile World and FPT Retail, which do not hide their ambition to IPO their "favorites" Bach Hoa Xanh and Long Chau in the future...

New opportunities for the stock market

The huge number of stocks about to be listed on the stock exchange and forecast to increase in the coming time is good news for the stock market in general. According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors, the stock market always needs new stocks, especially stocks of larger companies that attract more attention from domestic and foreign investors. In fact, in recent years, the appearance of large-scale units on the stock exchange has been too few.

There will be more new products on the stock market in 2025

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

Therefore, even if BSR shares of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company or MSN shares of Masan Consumer have been traded on UPCoM, when they move to HOSE, they will also create positivity and excitement in the market. Because when shares are listed on HOSE, they will receive more attention from large investors and foreign investment funds than on UPCoM. As for the first IPO and listed shares such as Vinpearl or other units, they will also breathe new life into the stock market in general. Therefore, according to Mr. Hai, in addition to the IPO of private companies, the state needs to continue to promote the divestment process in many large enterprises. For example, MobiFone previously had a plan to sell state capital, IPO but then stopped and it is not known when to restart. Or even the continued reduction of state capital in listed companies such as FPT, Binh Minh Plastics... although it was announced, it has not been implemented in the past year.

"Although the stock market last year had many quiet moments, if the state really divested capital at a large rate and invited strategic investors to participate, it would be successful like the divestment of Sabeco and Vinaconex... Successful divestment not only helps the state get a high price but also gives enterprises better business opportunities when adding new investors. The state must divest capital at a high rate to be able to participate in corporate governance to attract strategic investors to participate. If only a small portion is sold, the ownership rate is low, it is not attractive enough to attract large investors' interest," Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai noted.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Phan Dung Khanh, Investment Consulting Director of Maybank Investment Bank, also said that when there are shares listed on the stock exchange from enterprises conducting IPOs, many shareholders will open securities accounts to trade. This is a new force of investors on the stock market. From there, it also contributes to increasing market liquidity.

Besides "new products", the determination to achieve the 2025 goal of the Vietnamese stock market being upgraded from a frontier market to an emerging market is also optimistic information for the market this year. In fact, the upgrading of the Vietnamese stock market has been mentioned by the Government since last year and there have been many policies to promote and remove bottlenecks to achieve this goal. Therefore, the possibility of the Vietnamese stock market being upgraded can be completed according to the target and that will be a real step forward for the market. "If upgraded, foreign capital flows into the market will increase. But for the market to increase, there needs to be more stocks of enterprises in the technology sector; traditional industries but applying technology, adapting well to the trend of the digital transformation era, digital technology, artificial intelligence. Because domestic and foreign investors are still very interested in this group of stocks", Mr. Khanh analyzed.

Benefit from economic growth

2025 is considered the time to "accelerate and break through" to achieve the goals of the entire 2020 - 2025 term. Therefore, the Government sets a target of a high economic growth rate of 8 - 10%, higher than the target assigned by the National Assembly (6.5 - 7%), to create momentum for double-digit growth for the next period. Along with GDP, the Government also expects the consumer price index (CPI) to increase by an average of about 4.5%, credit growth to be over 15%, state budget revenue to be at least 10% higher than in 2024 and to thoroughly save on spending, especially regular spending...

Financial expert Nguyen Tri Hieu commented that the GDP growth target of 8-10% is quite high, but with the Government's determination and the cooperation of all economic sectors, it is still possible to achieve it. Along with controlling inflation, the export, industrial, service sectors and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) will accelerate, the economy will certainly grow. This is also the factor that drives the stock market up. More specifically, to promote economic growth, this year's credit growth target is also higher than the increase in 2024, about 16%. This means that the revenue and profit of the banking industry will increase. On the stock market, the group of banking and financial stocks accounts for a large proportion, so it will certainly be very exciting.

Similarly, infrastructure and transportation projects are also being accelerated, which will help businesses in this field and the construction materials industry develop. At the same time, Vietnam is strongly implementing the digital transformation process and developing high technology, so technology and service companies also have the opportunity to accelerate... "To achieve the target of high economic growth, from the beginning of the year, the Government must resolutely promote public investment disbursement and bring capital from banks into the economy.

At the same time, there are detailed scenarios to respond to new policy changes from other countries, especially the US when the new President Donald Trump takes office. For the stock market, the macroeconomic foundation is the most important because it is the basis for businesses to develop. With the determination to promote economic growth this year, the Vietnamese stock market has many conditions to develop more strongly. In addition, if the US continues to reduce interest rates as previously estimated, foreign investment flows will increase in Vietnam, both direct and indirect investment, helping domestic businesses to increase investment capital through the stock market," expert Nguyen Tri Hieu added.

According to Mr. Phan Dung Khanh, Vietnam has had many new changes when the top leaders of the Party and Government emphasized the need to immediately eliminate the mindset of "if you can't manage it, then ban it" or promote high technology, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. In addition, major plans such as building a regional and international financial center in Vietnam with outstanding mechanisms and policies to encourage and create favorable conditions to attract capital, technology, modern management methods, encourage infrastructure development and form a civilized, high-quality living environment in the financial center... In particular, the application of a controlled testing policy (sandbox) for business models applying technology in the financial sector (fintech), including trading floors for crypto assets, cryptocurrencies... shows that Vietnam has become more "open". This is also the basis for the economy to grow dramatically.

However, Mr. Phan Dung Khanh emphasized: Investment capital flows to technology enterprises in 2024 will increase sharply and this trend will continue. Meanwhile, the number of technology stocks on the Vietnamese stock market is still quite small. Enterprises in this field are quite new, mainly

start-ups. Therefore, it is necessary to have open policies to encourage start-ups and then raise capital, IPO and then list. Without more open policies, there will be a complete lack of new blockchain and artificial intelligence technology companies emerging and participating in the Vietnamese stock market. If there are still only companies operating in traditional fields, the stock market will hardly have the desired breakthrough growth.

VN-INDEX chart

GRAPHICS: BAO NGUYEN

More favorable business sectors

The government has set a target of promoting higher economic growth in the new year. This will help many businesses have the opportunity to boost their operations. In addition to exports, which have recovered strongly in the past year and continued to increase as the world economy grows, there are more opportunities in areas such as information technology, finance and banking. Even many real estate and cement and steel businesses that have been making losses in the past have now overcome the most difficult period and are able to hold on or make profits again. The more the economy develops, the higher the stock market will go. The construction of financial centers will also contribute to promoting a stronger stock market.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai (Vice President of Vietnam Association of Financial Investors)

Many factors help stocks accelerate

The Government has set a GDP growth target of 8-10% in 2025; Vietnam's investment and export activities are still forecast to continue to increase this year; foreign direct investment (FDI) flows are also continuously flowing into Vietnam, and the determination to upgrade the stock market from a frontier market to an emerging market is also a driving force to attract more foreign capital. In particular, higher credit growth than usual also helps the stock market thrive when businesses have more opportunities to access capital. When Vietnam's economy continues to grow strongly, production and business activities of businesses develop strongly, estimated profits increase, and stocks also go up. Investment capital also focuses on production activities and the stock market more instead of just saving or buying gold as before. Clearly, the stock market will be a channel of growth with a lot of potential in the new year.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh (Academy of Finance)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhieu-hang-khung-sap-len-san-185250110233341597.htm