VN-Index rises 3.1% in Nov, Finnish fund PYN Elite records -5.8%

Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), rose 3.1% in November, while PYN Elite, one of the largest foreign funds in the country's stock market, recorded -5.8%. Maggie Yi, Portfolio Team from PYN Elite, explains the figures.

VN-Index rose 3.1% in November, mainly thanks to Vingroup companies. Without their strength, the broad market fell 1.2%.

Sentiment was cautious due to political noise and tightening liquidity. Overnight rates moved higher as year-end credit demand outpaced deposit growth. This dampened sentiment, especially in rate-sensitive sectors like banks and brokerages.

The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reached 53.8 in November, marking the fifth straight month of improving business conditions. First-half of November data showed exports rising 16.1% year-on-year.

Although full macro data is not yet available, we believe growth continued to be led by exports, manufacturing, and major conglomerates’ mega projects, while SMEs, household businesses, and retail consumption grew at softer pace.

To support more inclusive growth, the Ministry of Finance has proposed tax reforms that would lower taxes for household and individual businesses, as well as certain personal income brackets. This should increase disposable income and support consumer spending and SMEs next year.

PYN Elite recorded -5.8% in November, mainly due to Sacombank. The delay of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) stake auction to H1/2026 disappointed investors. In addition, the one-off bad debt recovery income was used to build provisions. While this greatly strengthens the balance sheet, it fell short of investors’ near-term profit expectations.

PYN Elite stock of the month: FPT (FPT Corporation)

We divested FPT in 2024 at its price peak but continued to monitor the company and have recently re-entered the stock. Since last year, the stock has declined around 30%, mainly due to a weaker IT backlog amid tariff-related uncertainty and investor concerns about GenAI’s disruptive impact.

Recent indicators are encouraging. FPT’s backlog has recovered since July and maintained strong momentum, growing 22% year-on-year for the first 10 months of 2025, with October nearing a record high.

As backlog typically converts into revenue within 6-9 months, current consensus forecasts - assuming only mid-teen growth next year - appear conservative. With continuously recovering demand from the US and Asian markets, FPT is likely to beat low expectations and overcome market skepticism.

PYN Elite recorded -5.8% in November, the third consecutive month with negative performance. It was -3.21 in Octover and -4.85 in September.

The price of STB (Sacombank), which was the main driving force of the PYN Elite negative performance, dropped 12.4% in the month.

Despite the sharp price drop, STB still accounted for 17.2% of the fund's portfolio value as of the end of November - the largest proportion, followed by FPT (10.7%), Mobile World (9.3%), MBBank (7%), Vietnam Airlines (6.9%), and Airports Corporation of Vietnam or ACV (5.8%).

Sacombank is the sixth largest bank by loans, and fourth largest by branches. Thanks to its large network and affluent customer base, its bancassurance performance ranks top 3, according to PYN Elite.

"The bank has been bearing a large burden of non-performing assets (NPA) inherited from the financial crisis a decade ago. It finished booking provisions for these NPAs in 2023, and its growth and profitability will return to normal in the coming years."

Sacombank plans to auction 32.3% of STB shares which are currently used as collateral for the debt at VAMC, which "can bring significant recovery gains for shareholders".