Vietnamese stocks that post strong gains in H1

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index has climbed 13% so far this year, and a series of stocks have recorded strong growth driven by the financial recovery.

Topping the list is HVN of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, with an impressive gain of nearly 150% in the year to last Friday, June 14.

According to its Q1/2024 financial statement, Vietnam Airlines' net revenue hit nearly VND28 trillion ($1.01 billion), up 19% over the same period last year, marking the highest quarterly figure since Vietnam Airlines was equitized in 2015.

Subsidiaries’ profits also contributed to the airline's growth. In addition, its debt from Pacific Airlines was written off under an aircraft return agreement.

Thanks to that, the national airline for the first time cut losses after 16 consecutive quarters, with consolidated after-tax profit of VND4.44 trillion ($174.4 million).

The stocks in the FPT group, including FPT of FPT Group, FOX of FPT Telecom, FRT of FPT Retail, and FOC of FPT Online Services, all hit historic peaks in H1. FRT has increased by more than 65%, FPT 37%, FOX 111.8%, and FOC 49%.

FPT, FOX and FOC have soared thanks to investors' expectations for Vietnamese technology stocks, amid the world tech race.

Meanwhile, FRT of FPT Retail has benefited from good business signals in the pharmaceutical segment and expansion into the vaccine segment and virtual mobile network.

According to Saigon Securities (SSI), with lower loan costs, FRT can accelerate the opening of Long Chau pharmacies to gain market share as its competitors An Khang and Pharmacity are still struggling with their current business models. “Larger scale will help increase profit margins for Long Chau in the long run,” it said.

SSI estimated that FRT's 2024 profit could reach VND439 billion ($13.7 million) thanks to the recovery of FPT Shop and an estimated VND385 billion profit from the Long Chau pharmacy chain.

Viettel's stocks also left their marks with VGI of Viettel Global skyrocketing 252.71%, VTK of Viettel Consultancy and Services 154.95%, and CTR of Viettel Construction 58.74%. VTP of Viettel Post has increased by 13% since May.

For VGI, in the first quarter of 2024, the company recorded revenue of VND7.9 trillion ($310.33 million) and pre-tax profit of VND2.48 trillion, an increase of 151% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Its net profit reached VND1.63 trillion, nearly 2.7 times higher than the same period last year. With these results, VGI has completed 24.9% of the revenue plan and 45.9% of the profit target set for this year.

The steel group saw gains with GDA of Ton Dong A Corporation (28%), SMC of SMC Trading Investment JSC (37%), NKG of Nam Kim Steel JSC (8%), and HSG of Hoa Sen Group (6%).

Positive business results in the first quarter of 2024 have supported the uptrend of steel stocks. NKG reported a profit of VND188 billion ($7.38 million), compared to a loss of VND49 billion a year ago. Meanwhile, SMC posted net profit growth of 664% year-on-year.

In addition, many other groups have seen positive developments, such as industrial real estate and oil and gas.

Notably, a series of penny stocks have added to market momentum. For example, API, APS, and IDJ - a trio of the APEC Group ecosystem of Nguyen Do Lang, who was detained in June last year for allegedly manipulating the Vietnamese stock market, gained 40%, 16.5%, and 14.5%, respectively.

Recently, all three stocks have boomed after the appearance of the businessman at API's 2024 AGM. At the end of 2023, Lang owned 19.6% of API's charter capital. However, these stocks are far from prices set a year ago.