Duc Giang Chemical chairman’s family loses $129 mln in a week as shares plunge

Shares of Vietnam’s Duc Giang Chemical Group JSC (DGC) fell sharply last week (December 15-19), wiping nearly VND3.4 trillion ($129.2 million) off the stock-based wealth of the family of chairman Dao Huu Huyen.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), DGC shares closed down 6.3% last Friday at VND70,200 ($2.67), marking a fourth straight session of losses.

The stock had hit the daily down limit in the previous three sessions amid heavy sell orders. Over the week, DGC fell nearly 23.7%, bringing its year-to-date decline to almost 40%.

The slump significantly reduced the value of shares held by Dao Huu Huyen's family, who together own more than 154.7 million shares, equivalent to about 40.7% of the company’s outstanding capital, according to data compiled by The Investor.

Huyen, DGC’s largest shareholder, holds nearly 69.8 million shares, or about 18.38% of the company. His personal shareholding lost more than VND1.5 trillion ($57 million) in value during the week.

Other family members also saw sharp declines in the value of their holdings. Huyen’s wife, Nguyen Thi Hong Lan, owns more than 14.3 million shares, or 3.8%.

His son, Dao Huu Duy Anh, vice chairman of the board, holds more than 11.5 million shares, or about 3%, while his daughter, Dao Hong Hanh, owns just over 5 million shares, or around 1.35%.

Dao’s brother, Dao Huu Kha, holds about 22.7 million shares, equivalent to 5.97%, while his sister-in-law, Ngo Thi Ngoc Lan, owns roughly 25.2 million shares, or 6.64%.

Founded in 1963 as a state-owned enterprise under Vietnam’s General Department of Chemicals, Duc Giang Chemicals was equitized in 2004, listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange in 2014, and moved to the HoSE in 2020.

Under Dao’s leadership, the company has expanded from detergent-related products into industrial chemicals, pure chemicals, fertilisers, and real estate. Its charter capital has risen to VND3.8 trillion ($144.3 million) from VND15 billion ($571,000) at the time of equitization, with a market capitalisation of more than $1.2 billion.

For the first nine months of 2025, DGC reported a 14.4% rise in revenue to 8.52 trillion ($323.8 million) and a 9% increase in net profit to VND2.53 trillion ($96.23 million).

Included in the VN30 index, DGC is a stock consistently favored by investors, especially those with a medium- to long-term perspective, or those holding assets to receive dividends. Therefore, the recent performance of DGC shares has attracted significant investor attention.

However, the company remains silent despite the stock having fallen sharply for four consecutive sessions. The latest information DGC has announced is a plan to pay an interim cash dividend for 2025 at a rate of 30%, with the record date being December 25 and payment due on January 15, 2026.

On the evening of Wednesday, December 17, TCBS Research issued a sell recommendation for DGC shares at the price of VND80,500 ($3.06) per share. The firm noted that DGC shares had experienced two consecutive days of sharp declines with high trading volume, breaking through previous support levels.

TCBS Research also stated that negative information causing certain difficulties for DGC's business operations is the increase in export tax on yellow phosphorus from 5% to 10% starting January 1, 2026. However, this information was already known beforehand.

MB Securities (MBS) said it believes that besides the information about the increase in export tax on yellow phosphorus (P4), there is another unfavorable piece of information: the DGC stock code is at risk of being removed from the VN30 index in upcoming restructuring periods.