Vietnamese billionaires lose $479 mln on stock market plunge

The five wealthiest billionaires in Vietnam lost a total of VND12 trillion ($479.3 million) on Monday when the VN-Index, representing the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), plummeted 60 points, the sharpest fall in nearly two years.

By the end of Monday's session, the stock value of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of private conglomerate Vingroup (HoSE: VIC), had decreased by more than VND3.25 trillion ($129 million) as VIC tumbled 3% to VND47,000 ($1.86) per share.

According to Vingroup's 2023 report, Vuong directly owns 691.27 million VIC shares, accounting for 17.82% of the group's charter capital. In addition, he also indirectly holds over 1.55 billion VIC shares via Vietnam Investment Group JSC, VMI Real Estate Investment and Management JSC, and Green and Smart Moving JSC (GSM).

Steelmaker Hoa Phat (HPG) also dropped 4.84% to VND28,500 ($1.13) per share. According to the group’s 2023 report, chairman Tran Dinh Long directly owns 1.5 billion HPG shares, his son Tran Vu Minh 133.6 million, and his wife Vu Thi Hien 400 million. In total, this businessman and his family lost nearly VND3 trillion ($119 million).

Meanwhile, MSN of major retailer Masan Group and TCB of Techcombank fell 6.95% and 6.33%, respectively. As a result, Masan chairman Nguyen Dang Quang's stock value fell over VND3.83 trillion ($152 million) as he indirectly holds 446.3 million MSN shares through Masan Group, 9.4 million TCB shares directly, and 524.3 million TCB shares indirectly via Masan.

Techcombank chairman Ho Hung Anh directly holds 39.3 million TCB shares. Including those held by his relatives, the number exceeds 700 million. Overall, this billionaire’s family lost more than VND2.1 trillion ($83.35 million) in market value.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, chairwoman of budget carrier Vietjet (HoSE: VJC) also saw her securities assets decrease by about VND420 billion ($16.67 million) because HDB of HDBank ended the Monday session down 3.29%. According to HDBank's 2023 report, Thao directly holds 107.6 million HDB shares, while her related organization Sovico JSC owns 417.7 million HDB shares.

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index plunged nearly 60 points, or 4.7%, to 1,216.61 on Monday, becoming the worst performer in Asia with the biggest drop in 23 months.

Strong selling pressure made the capitalization of the HoSE plunge VND244 trillion ($10 billion) to VND4,950 trillion ($196.6 billion).

Strong selling pressure led to capitalization on the HoSE plunging VND244 trillion ($10 billion) to VND4,950 trillion ($196.6 billion).

The major bourse saw 475 stocks losing, including 111 hitting their floor prices, and only 40 gaining, with nearly 1.46 billion shares changing hands for over VND33.5 trillion ($1.33 billion). Foreign investors were net sellers on the HoSE to the tune of nearly VND1.2 trillion ($45.65 million), much higher than normal.

Truong Hien Phuong, senior director at KIS Vietnam Securities JSC, attributed the market dumping to strong sell-offs by individual investors after hearing negative information. However, this expert believed that these are false and baseless rumors posted on a number of forums and groups to manipulate the market and stir panic among investors.

Another reason was the tensions between Iran and Israel, he added.

"I think that the geopolitical context is not too tense, and the domestic exchange rate will soon be under control, so the market will gradually stabilize and return to an uptrend. Investors need to stay calm and avoid sell-offs because of ungrounded rumors," Phuong noted.

He advised investors to buy in the dip, especially shares in the real estate, public investment, securities, oil and gas, steel, and banking sectors.

Sharing the same view, Nguyen Anh Khoa, head of research at Agribank Securities, said the Monday plunge was not too surprising, so investors should hold on to existing shares and even pour more money into the VN30 group, which features the 30 largest cap stocks in Vietnam.