VinFast brings Vietnamese stock market closer to foreign investors: expert

The listing of Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast on the tech-focused Nasdaq will make the Vietnamese stock market more popular among foreign investors, said Nguyen The Minh, chief analyst at Yuanta Vietnam Securities JSC.

VinFast’s official listing on the Nasdaq has attracted the attention of investors. What do you think about this?

In my opinion, VinFast has taken the first successful steps, but to achieve the purpose of raising capital, it depends on the firm’s own capacity.

The listing on the Nasdaq partly opens up opportunities for the company to raise capital from potential investors in the future to serve its main business activity - EV manufacturing - which is very capital-intensive.

VinFast's VFS stock was successful on its debut session, but it should be noted that the market price hike or capitalization is not enough to accurately reflect the company's valuation. In addition, the volume of floating VFS shares is only 1%.

Satisfying the conditions of capitalization, liquidity, floating share volume and listing time is very important. That is the basis for VinFast to enter the portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This will help VinFast attract interest from funds that specialize in tracking ETF portfolios, indirectly having a positive effect on the stock.

In addition, raising capital on the Nasdaq (if successful) means helping VinFast avoid the "barrier" of foreign ownership limits found in Vietnam's stock market. This is an advantage for VinFast.

Many Vietnamese listed companies have announced they will list abroad, but VinFast is one of the first to succeed. In your opinion, what is the difference?

The difference here is VinFast's application of the SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) method, which helped it shorten its listing time and cost.

VinFast's listing is said have provided motivation for Vietnamese businesses, especially those that have previously cherished plans to list on international exchanges. What do you think about this?

VinFast has the two “firsts”. Firstly, it was the first company daring to venture into the field of EV production in Vietnam. Secondly, VinFast is the first large-cap company in the group of EV manufacturers on the Nasdaq.

This is a big motivation for Vietnamese enterprises, especially tech firms, that boast a relatively fast growth rate, but domestic capital mobilization is limited.

Listing and raising capital in developed markets is clearly one of the solutions to the capital problem for Vietnamese enterprises. Of course, they must ensure financial capacity and transparency.

Some say that VinFast’s listing on the Nasdaq has had a positive effect on Vietnam's stock market. What is your opinion?

This is the correct assessment as many foreign investors, investment funds and large organizations will start to learn more about Vietnam's stock market. We have created a good brand, but to help the Vietnamese stock market attract and retain foreign investment flows, it is necessary to have better capital circulation mechanisms and higher foreign ownership ratios in enterprises. We also need to meet Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) and Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) criteria.

In the most recent reviews, on the "foreign ownership limit" criterion, MSCI assessed that companies in sensitive industries and sectors still have foreign ownership limits of 0-51%. These limits affect more than 10% of stocks on the Vietnamese stock market.

For the criterion "Remaining room for foreign investors", MSCI believed that the stock market is heavily influenced by the issue of foreign room. More than 1% of the MSCI Vietnam IMI index is affected by low foreign room.

Meanwhile, according to the FTSE, the criteria "No or a selective ratio of foreign ownership" and "No or simple registration process for foreign investors" are both limited on the Vietnam stock market.

VinFast officially started trading shares on the tech-focused Nasdaq on August 15 (U.S. time). “Becoming a U.S.-listed company marks a significant milestone in VinFast’s global expansion,” VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said in a statement.

The Nasdaq listing will enhance VinFast’s global outreach by facilitating even wider access to capital, she added.

VinFast, a member of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup JSC, is the country’s leading EV maker. Founded in 2017 as a producer of fossil fuel cars, it has shifted to total EV manufacturing. It makes and exports a portfolio of electric SUVs, e-scooters and e-buses across Vietnam, the U.S., and, soon, Europe.

Shares of VinFast dropped for a third straight session to $15.4 per share last Friday, from $20 on Thursday, $30.11 on Wednesday and $37.06 in the stock's Nasdaq debut.