Vietnam refinery operator to list on HCMC bourse 

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR), the operator of Vietnam’s first oil refinery, has received the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s (HoSE) approval to list its BSR shares on the major bourse.

The specific timeline for the listing has not yet been announced.

With 3.1 billion shares, BSR will be a rare "blockbuster" listing on the major bourse in recent years.

Given its scale and industry leadership, many analysts expect BSR to be included in the basket of the 30 largest stocks (VN30 Index) after moving from the unlisted public companies market (UPCom) to the HoSE, which could increase its appeal and help attract foreign investment flows.

BSR was established in 2008 to build and operate the Dung Quat oil refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, part of the government’s strategy to ensure national energy security. The company conducted its IPO and floated shares on the UPCoM in 2018.

Binh Son's plan to move to the HoSE was first proposed in 2023. At the 2024 AGM, its leadership said that the plan was delayed due to a significant overdue debt of nearly VND1.1 trillion (about 1.5% of its total assets) held by its subsidiary, Central Biofuels JSC (BSR-BF), which impacted the consolidated financial statement.

Later, BSR-BF filed for bankruptcy, so BSR no longer recorded the debt, meeting the requirements for HoSE listing. In August, BSR submitted its listing registration application.

Ahead of moving to the HoSE, BSR shares experienced an increase of over 15.4% from December 4-12. At Thursday’s close, BSR hit VND21,500 ($0.85) per share.

The company reported Q3 revenue of VND31.95 trillion ($1.26 billion), a decrease of 15.6% compared to the same period last year.

Due to overweighed operating costs, it recorded a gross loss of VND1.47 trillion. After deducting expenses, Binh Son posted a net loss of VND1.12 trillion ($44.09 million), compared to a profit of VND3.24 trillion in Q3/2023.

In the first nine months of this year, the firm recorded revenue of VND87.06 trillion ($3.43 billion), down 17.5% year-on-year, and an after-tax profit of VND674 billion ($26.59 million), down 89.1%.

The firm explained that the global oil market has experienced significant volatility. The average price of crude oil (Dated Brent) fell from $85.31 per barrel in July to $74.33 in September. This helped narrow the gap between crude oil and product prices (crack spread), leading to a substantial decrease in the company’s profits.