Vietnam consumer finance major F88’s stock hits ceiling price on UPCoM debut

The stock of F88 Investment JSC (F88), a leading consumer finance company in Vietnam, hit its ceiling price of VND888,800 ($34) on Friday, the first day of trading on the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM).

This marked a nearly 40% increase from the reference level, pushing the company’s market capitalization to VND7.33 trillion ($279.53 million). However, the transaction value was low with only 300 shares changing hands in the first hour, while buy orders at the ceiling price exceeded 300,000 shares.

Massive 1,200% bonus share plan after UPCoM registering

F88 Investment, founded on November 12, 2015, is closely associated with its founder and chairman Phung Anh Tuan.

By June 2, 2025, the company had four founding shareholders, including 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 2025 AGM in June, shareholders approved an ambitious capital hike plan. Following the UPCoM debut, F88 Investment will issue up to 206,615 Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) shares at VND10,000 ($0.38) each, raising its charter capital to VND84.7 billion ($3.23 million). These shares will be subject to an 18-month lock-up.

Subsequently, the company plans to issue an additional 101.65 million bonus shares from equity at a 1,200% ratio, meaning each shareholder will receive 12 new shares for every one held. This will raise its charter capital to VND1.1 trillion ($41.95 million).

Targeting 888 outlets nationwide by year-end

With a modest charter capital of VND82.5 billion ($3.15 million), F88 Investment is the parent company of F88 Business JSC - the owner of the F88 pawnshop chain, which has chartered capital of VND1.67 trillion (F88 Investment holds 167.3 million shares, or 99.99% of the chartered capital).

The company also wholly owns F88 Trading Co., Ltd. (VND10 billion or $ 381,352 in charter capital), FFintech JSC (VND10 billion), and Green Home Technology JSC (VND8 billion)

Of these, F88 Business JSC is the core revenue and profit driver. Meanwhile, FFintech, which operates in IT and computer-related services, had negative equity of VND95.7 billion ($3.65 million) as of end-2024. The remaining subsidiaries show limited business effectiveness.

As part of its restructuring strategy approved at the 2025 AGM, F88 Investment plans to merge FFintech and F88 Business to streamline operations and pursue its vision of becoming Vietnam’s leading digital personal finance group, targeting underserved, non-bankable customer segments.

The company aims to serve 1 million customers by the end of 2025, expand to 888 outlets nationwide by the end of this year, and partner with large telecom companies to offer digital lending services to their customer bases using existing digital platforms.

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.