Billion-dollar Vietnamese firms hold 'mountain of money'

Twenty one companies with a billion-dollar market capitalization on the Vietnamese stock market owned VND318.27 trillion ($13.45 billion) in cash and deposits as of June 30.

Financial statements for the second quarter from these companies (except for those with money business lines like banking and insurance) show that 12 of them recorded an increase in total cash and deposits.

PV Gas, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as GAS, owns the largest amount of cash and deposits with VND40.77 trillion ($1.7 billion), up 10% compared to the end of Q1 and accounting for 46% of its total assets. In the first six months, bank deposits earned it over VND1.03 trillion ($43.6 million) in profit.

Vietnam's largest steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) followed with cash and deposits of VND36.1 trillion ($1.5 billion). Billionaire Tran Dinh Long's group increased its liquid assets by 4% compared to the beginning of the year. Of which, cash and cash equivalents were VND13.25 trillion ($559.76 million), up 59%. Besides, short-term investments held to maturity in the form of term deposits hit VND22.85 trillion ($965.1 million).

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR), the operator of Vietnam's first oil refinery Dung Quat, ranked third with VND29.23 trillion ($1.2 billion), up 17% compared to the beginning of the year and accounting for 39% of total assets. Deposits earned about VND762.5 billion ($32.2 million) in profit for BSR in the first half of the year, equivalent to nearly VND3 billion ($126,700) per day.

Leading Vietnamese IT corporation FPT is also a notable name with a "mountain of money" that skyrocketed in the first half of the year. Specifically, by the end of Q2, the group's cash and bank deposits stood at VND26.69 trillion ($1.13 billion), up 37% compared to the beginning of the year and accounting for about 44% of the group's total assets.

Meanwhile, Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) had the fastest growth rate of 72%, from VND14.2 trillion ($599.6 million) to VND24.42 trillion ($1.03 billion) by June 30. This huge deposit brought MWG more than VND809 billion ($34.17 million) in interest in the first six months, up 76% year-on-year, thereby helping the retail firm to escape losses after being stretched by a price war in Q2.

The cash, cash equivalents and term deposits also accounted for the largest proportion in the asset structure of Vietnam’s largest dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM) with a total value of VND21.46 trillion ($906.6 million). In the first half of the year, Vinamilk's interest from bank deposits reached VND708 billion ($29.9 million).

A number of other businesses also recorded an increase in cash and deposit volumes in H1, namely Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corp. (VEAM) with VND15.28 trillion ($645.4 million), Viettel Global Investment JSC with VND17.82 trillion ($752.5 million), and Vietnamese private carrier Vietjet Air (VJC) VND2.17 trillion ($91.45 million).

In the opposite direction, leading Vietnamese property developer Novaland's (NVL) cash volume fell by 54% from VND8.92 trillion ($376.9 million) to VND4.08 trillion ($172.4 million). It was followed by Becamex IDC (BCM) with cash and deposits at VND742 billion ($31.3 million) at the end of Q2 from VND1.51 trillion ($63.6 million) at the beginning of the year.

The tally for Vietnam’s biggest listed property firm Vinhomes JSC (VHM) was VND6.72 trillion ($283.7 million), down 46%, and it was VND20.62 trillion ($871.1 million) for Vingroup, down 27% compared to the beginning of the year.