Bamboo Capital chairman buys 5 million BCG shares

Nguyen Ho Nam, chairman of Vietnamese conglomerate Bamboo Capital Group (BCG), has completed his purchase of the five million BCG shares he had registered.

He publicized the completion Friday. Four weeks before that, margin calls occurred to 4.6 million shares of BCG on November 16, then he registered to buy five million shares of his group, based in Ho Chi Minh City and listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as BCG.

His purchase took place on December 2 -14; during which BCG shares were traded in the range of VND7,000 - 8,000 (to $0.34), higher than the price range of VND4,540 - 5,200 (to $0.22) at the time the margin calls happened.

This buying raised his holding at BCG to 83,371,894 million shares, equal to 15.63% of the corporation’s charter capital. Despite higher buying prices, Nam has fulfilled his committed holding ratio.

Closing the Thursday trading, BCG stocks were VND7,430 ($0.32) per unit, up 63% from the lowest of VND4,540 (0.19) per unit. However, this level is still much lower than its peak in March this year.

According to BCG, the low price levels are in line with the general downtrend in the market over the past few months and do not reflect the true value and potential of BCG. Despite many business difficulties during the period, the group is maintaining its activities normally. Its Board of Directors is seeking to adjust its business strategy to match market fluctuations and optimize the interests of shareholders and investors.

The business earned after-tax profits of VND885.32 billion ($35.65 million) on revenues of VND3,311 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 26.24% and 73.81% year-on-year, respectively. BCG has maintained such growth from 2018 to now, with the growth in revenue and post-tax profit at 41.1% and 157.9%, respectively.

The gross profit margin and net profit margin in the nine-month period reached 35.2% and 27.7%, respectively.

By September 30, 2022, BCG’s total assets were VND43,752 billion ($1.76 billion), up 16.1% compared to the beginning of the year.

Owner equity jumped 63.3% to VND13,634 billion ($549 million) after nine months. Its total debt-to-equity ratio fell from 7.2 by end-2020 to 3.5 by end-2021 and 2.2 by September 30 this year, an average rate in comparison with competitors in the sector.

In the renewable energy sector, during January-September, its power sales to State utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) increased by 13% year-on-year, with the business implementing solar and wind power projects in the Central Highlands and southwestern region.

For the realty sector, good absorption was recorded at offerings. King Crown Infinity project has 325 out of 725 apartments reserved, while Hoian d'Or project has sold 166 out of 202 shophouses and has started delivering properties to customers since September.

Regarding bonds, those issued by BCG and its subsidiaries serve the financing of projects and have a maturity suitable to project progress. In 2022, bonds worth VND450 billion ($18.14 million) issued by a subsidiary will mature in the four quarter, while none will mature next year. The company is holding VND1,300 billion ($52.38 million) in cash and cash equivalents.

This year, BCG aims for a post-tax profit of VND2,200 billion ($88.68 million) on revenue of VND7,251 billion. After nine months, BCG fulfilled 45.7% and 40.2% of the year's revenue and profit targets, respectively.