Vietnam refinery operator’s stock may be included in VN30 basket: broker

The ticker of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR), the operator of Vietnam’s first oil refinery, can be included in the basket of the 30 largest stocks on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), according to broker Agriseco Securities.

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

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

BSR could not realize its plan to list shares on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) in 2020 due to a lawsuit related to an overdue debt. The path to its listing on the HoSE was cleared after the Quang Ngai provincial court decided in May to allow its unit, Vietnam Central Biofuels JSC or BSR-BF, to file for bankruptcy.

BSR has surged 32% from VND18,000 to VND24,000 ($0.97) per share in the past four months, as compared to a 8% rise of the benchmark VN-Index.

In addition to the HoSE listing, the company plans to pay a share dividend at a rate of 60% to increase its charter capital from VND31 trillion ($1.25 billion) to VND50 trillion.

The goal is to ensure its owner's equity covers 40-60% of the total investment for the Dung Quat oil refinery expansion project (equivalent to $1.5 billion). In May 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved the adjustment to the project investment plan to increase the plant’s processing capacity from 148,000 to 171,000 barrels per day.

By the end of Q2/2024, the company had invested VND1.17 trillion ($47.05 million) in the project. It plans to put the project into operation from Q3/2028. This year, BSR will disburse VND1.3 trillion for the project, mainly serving design and site clearance.

Dim business outlook

After peaking in 2022, BSR's earnings decreased in 2023 and the first half of this year. Its revenue dropped 12% year-on-year to VND147.4 trillion ($5.93 billion), while its consolidated after-tax profit plunged 41% to VND8.6 trillion ($345.8 million) last year.

In H1/2024, the company earned an audited consolidated after-tax profit of VND1,608 billion ($64.65 million) on revenue of VND55,099 billion, down 46.5% and 18.7% year-on-year, respectively.

The underperformance was attributed to a comprehensive maintenance exercise in March and April, lower crude oil prices, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the energy transition, a sharp decline in consumption of petroleum products in China in the context of slow economic growth, and low interest rates, according to Agriseco Securities.

At the end of Q2, the company had nearly VND40 trillion ($1.6 billion) in cash and deposits, accounting for 46% of total assets.