Consumer finance major F88 shares hit ceiling price for 3 consecutive sessions

Shares of F88 Investment JSC (F88), a leading consumer finance company in Vietnam, have hit the ceiling price for three consecutive sessions, reaching VND1.15 milion ($43.78) a unit on Tuesday and continuing to record the highest price on Vietnam's stock market.

F88 Investment registered its shares on the unlisted public companies market (UPCoM) last Friday, with a reference price of VND634,900 ($24.17) apiece.

The price hikes have driven the company's market capitalization from VND5,244 billion ($199.62 million) to VND9,499 billion ($361.59 million), up 88%.

They also helped the company's founders and foreign shareholders increase their assets significantly. The ownerships of chairman Phung Anh Tuan and board member Ngo Quang Hung have expanded to over VND1,000 billion ($38.05 million) each.

The largest foreign shareholder - Mekong Capital through Skydom PTE.LTD Company Limited - has seen the value of its investment rise to more than VND3,000 billion ($114.2 million).

Mekong Capital is the first foreign fund to contribute capital to F88 Investment, back to 2016, and has continuously invested more to help the F88 pawn shop chain expand.

The company was founded on November 12, 2015, with initial capital of VND25.51 billion ($971,000). The four founding shareholders included Phung Anh Tuan (43.65%), Ngo Quang Hung (43.65%), Tran Manh Cong (7.7%), and Nguyen Van Tuyen (5%) -VND10,000 a share.

According to its prospectus, the F88 pawn shop chain has increased its capital 20 times to reach VND82.5 billion ($3.14 million) as it is now.

In addition to the mobilization from existing shareholders at VND10,000 per share, the company has repeatedly offered shares to foreign partners such as Skydom PTE. LTD. and Bronze Blade Limited Company at the price of hundreds of thousands of VND (VND100,000 = $3.81), even over VND1 million ($38.1) per unit.

By June 2, 2025, the company had four founding shareholders, including Phung Anh Tuan holding 998,496 shares (12.08%), Ngo Quang Hung 903,097 shares (10.93%), Tran Manh Cong 190,186 shares (2.3%), and Nguyen Van Tuyen 159,828 shares (1.93%).

Additionally, there are four foreign institutional shareholders, namely Skydom PTE. LTD – the largest, holding 31.32%; Bronze Blade Limited (9.83%); Asia Investment Company S.A R.L (8.46%); and Winter Flame Pte. Ltd (5.64%).

At the end of 2024, F88 Investment had a charter capital of VND82.6 billion ($3.14 million) but a surplus of equity capital of VND1,640 billion ($62.43 million). Therefore, on average, F88 raised capital from shareholders at a price of about VND208,000 ($7.92) a share.

According to a plan approved by shareholders at the 2025 AGM, after the UPCoM registering, F88 Investment will have a large stock split to increase its charter capital.

Specifically, the company will issue a maximum of 206,615 ESOP shares to raise capital to VND84.7 billion ($3.22 million), with an issuance price of VND10,000/share. The shares will be restricted from transfer within 18 months.

After that, F88 Investment will issue another 101.65 million shares from equity capital at the rate of up to 1,200%, meaning that shareholders owning one share will receive 12 new shares. Charter capital will then increase to VND1,101 billion ($41.91 million).

After a turbulent 2023, F88 Investment recorded after-tax profit of VND351 billion ($13.73 million) in 2024, an all-time high. Its total revenue last year hit VND3,347 billion ($130.92 million), up by over 23.2% compared to 2023.

In the first half of 2025, it posted over VND1.74 trillion ($66.36 million) in revenue and VND254.7 billion ($9.7 million) in after-tax profit, 3.1 times higher than that in the same period last year.

This surge is attributed to increased lending activities and a larger loan portfolio. Revenue from pawn loan services and related activities reached VND1.14 trillion ($43.47 million), accounting for 84% of total revenue, and up 18.2% from earlier in the year.

As of Q2/2025, total outstanding loans stood at VND4.38 trillion ($167 million), up nearly 20% from the year outset. Overdue loans amounted to VND298 billion, up VND14 billion compared to the start of the year.

For 2025, F88 aims for VND3.6 trillion ($200.87 million) in revenue and VND538.6 billion ($20.54 million) in after-tax profit, up 33% and 53.3% year-on-year, respectively. As of mid-year, the company had achieved 37% and 47% of the year's revenue and profit targets.