Construction giant Hoa Binh shares not traded in morning session

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) has announced the transfer of HBC shares of Vietnam’s leading construction contractor Hoa Binh from controlled to restricted trading starting May 23, due to late submission of its 2022 audited financial statement by more than 45 days.

Accordingly, HBC shares will not be traded in the morning session from next Tuesday (May 23).

Previously, the HoSE had announced the transfer of HBC shares from warning to control status from May 15 since it was late in submitting audited financial statements for 2022 by more than 30 days. HBC shares had also been monitored under control due to late submission of audited annual financial statements for two consecutive years.

HBC said that in the past time, the company's governance had encountered some problems. In addition, due to turbulences in the real estate and financial markets, many projects came to a halt, affecting payments.

The board of management and all employees must focus their efforts to solve the above problems. This affects the company's general operations, including the timely completion of annual financial statements, the corporation stated.

"In an official dispatch dated April 28, Hoa Binh Group committed to disclose information by May 30 at the latest," it wrote.

Le Quoc Duy, board member of HBC, recently sold all 24,086 HBC shares from April 24 to May 12.

Hoa Binh reported a net loss of more than VND440 billion ($18.75 million) in the first three months of 2023, marking its second quarter of loss in a row.

The corporation recorded a revenue of nearly VND1.2 trillion ($51.14 million) in the period, down nearly 60% year-on-year, according to its financial statement.

It posted a gross loss of more than VND200 billion ($8.52 million) from main activities, as compared to a gross profit of nearly VND200 billion in Q1/2022.

By the end of Q1, Hoa Binh's total assets had reached nearly VND15.7 trillion ($669 million), down over VND1.2 trillion ($51.14 million) from the beginning of the year.

Its accumulated loss by the end of Q1/2023 was more than VND1.1 trillion ($46.88 million), equivalent to more than 40% of its charter capital (VND2.74 trillion).

Earlier this year, Hoa Binh experienced a "power war" between its founder Le Viet Hai and independent board member Nguyen Cong Phu regarding the position of board chairman.

After the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Civil Judgment Enforcement issued a decision forcing Hoa Binh to cease enforcing three resolutions that caused an internal conflict among its board members, Le Viet Hai continued as board chairman and legal representative of the group.

Hoa Binh is not the only construction contractor in Vietnam hit by the real estate crisis, which resulted in cash flow congestion and increasing bad debt among developers. For example, Coteccons Construction Joint Stock Company saw its Q1 net profit drop 25% to only VND22 billion ($937,600).

HBC closed the Wednesday trading session at VND8,560 ($0.36) per share.