VN bourse welcomes foreign firm
(30-05-2005)
HCM CITY — An auction was held last Friday to sell shares of the Taya (Vietnam) Electric Wire and Cable Company, the first ever held for a foreign-invested business.
The auction was held at the HCM City and Ha Noi stock markets.
More than 2.440 million shares of the VND183 billion (US$11.5 million) Taiwanese-owned company were sold for almost VND46.2 billion, with the average price at VND18,922.
The highest price was VND29,100, while the lowest was VND18,000, the same as the starting price.
A total of 223 investors participated in the auction, including one foreign and 11 domestic institutions.
Chen Ping Sen, Taya Electric’s general director, said a shareholder meeting is planned on June 25 and procedures will be prepared for the company’s listing on the stock market, expected in August.
Taya Vietnam runs two factories, one in Dong Nai province and another in Hai Duong province, the latter beginning operation this year.
Sales to Taiwan, China and Cambodia represent around 10 per cent of its output, which stood at 8.7 million tonnes last year.
The company has a distribution network of more than 300 agents nationwide.
Last year it netted VND56 billion profit, up from 2003’s figure of VND26 billion.
This year’s profit target was set at VND48 billion, lower than 2004 because of higher prices for materials and the expiry of the Dong Nai factory’s tax preference duration.
However, profit is expected to bounce back to VND64 billion next year andVND75 billion in 2007.
In last week’s trading, more than 7.3 million securities were transferred, worth VND699 billion, with VietFund certificates representing 68,000 securities and shares, 819,000 leaving the remaining volume to bonds.
Foreign investors bought more than 641,000 securities, paying almost VND47 billion. Most of the securities were bonds. They sold 28,500 shares for VND816 million.
The VN Index had another small rise of 0.44 points from a week earlier. In the week between May 16-20, it enhanced 0.33 points.
Of the 28 listed firms, 15 saw their values increase after one trading week, while five remained stable and the remaining eight suffered losses.
Of the gainers, the plastics firm Danaplast enjoyed the highest rise of 5.88 per cent to reach VND 9,000, VND1,000 lower than the face value. The canned food maker Canfoco was the hardest-hit loser, falling 4 per cent to VND14,400.
The cotton producer BBT stayed put at VND09,100, forwarding firm Gemadept at VND52,000, the paper producer Hapaco at VND22,700, the Petroleum Mechanical Company (PMS) at VND14,100 and furniture manufacturer SAVIMEX at VND29,400. — VNS
