Three IPOs in Vietnam raise $7 mln in Jan-Nov: Deloitte

Vietnam saw three initial public offering (IPO) listings raising $7 million from January to mid-November, Deloitte said in a new report for the Southeast Asian region.

The low number of IPOs in Vietnam in the period was mainly driven by the tightened IPO and listing approval process, Deloitte noted. Another reason is higher net-withdrawal from foreign investors due to global and local factors affecting Vietnam’s market liquidity in 2023, the audit giant highlighted.

These unfavourable conditions, coupled with Vietnam’s falling stock market performance since the first half of 2022, resulted in IPO aspirants delaying their IPO plans and waiting for the right moment to list.

Three cases in Vietnam were Dong Duong Construction and Trading JSC, a Hanoi-based manufacturer of wood and wooden products, with $0.84 million; Tu Hai Ha Nam JSC, a garment manufacturer based in the northern province of Ha Nam; with $0.77 million; and Royal Manufacture and Investment JSC, a producer of ceramics and porcelain tiles based in the southern province of Dong Nai, with $5.5 million.

“Although Vietnam’s stock indexes have recovered towards the end of 2023, it is still far from the 2021 and early 2022 peak. Nevertheless, the Vietnam government has introduced several measures to stimulate the economy and initiatives to improve the ratings of the Vietnam stock market to bolster investors’ confidence going into 2024,” said Van Trinh Bui, assurance leader, Deloitte Vietnam.

In the year to November 15, companies in Southeast Asia raised $5.5 billion from 153 IPOs, according to Deloitte. The performance was lower than $7.6 billion from 163 IPOs in the whole year of 2022.

The Vietnamese IPO market closed last year with eight deals and proceeds of $71 million, much higher than the $16 million recorded a year earlier, but the combined market cap dropped sharply, according to the Deloitte report.