Stocks continue to recover

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange Monday continued its gains from last week, offering hope to investors that it has bottomed out.

The benchmark VN-Index gained 9.03 points, to close at 785.07, with analysts saying the recent recovery across Asia and good earnings reports contributed to the recovery.
Of the 147 listed stocks, there were 66 gainers.

After its recent falls, FPT Corporation gained for the second straight session, going up by VND4,000 to close at VND182,000.

This values the company at around US$1 billion, making it the fifth largest on the exchange.
The country’s top technology services firm said Monday its net profit rose 63.8 percent to VND877 billion ($54.5 million) last year.

The Hanoi-based company said revenues rose 27.8 percent last year to VND27.35 trillion, a company statement issued through the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said.
Private equity firm Texas Pacific and Intel Capital, a unit of Intel Corp., bought a combined 10 percent in FPT in 2006 for $36.5 million.

Texas Pacific has since sold an undisclosed part of its stake, but remained a key investor, FPT said.

FPT has subsidiaries in retail sales, stock broking and fund management, and is also seeking a license from the central bank to set up a commercial bank.
Earlier this month, FPT expanded into real estate, announcing it had signed a contract for a $925 million residential town project in the central region.
It said FPT Real Estate, a subsidiary set up last year, would also begin construction later this year on a university compound, a software production zone, and other projects.

Shares in Itaco, the first listed industrial park developer, rose 3.13 percent to VND132,000.
At this price,it has a value of $820 million, the eighth largest.

Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp., to give its full name, said it hoped to increase earnings by at least 62 percent this year.

In a statement issued through the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange it said it expected the net profit to rise to VND600 billion ($37.3 million).

Itaco also planned to double registered capital to VND2 trillion this year and list on an overseas market, the statement said without elaboration.

Last August, the firm and London-listed Vietnam Infrastructure Limited fund said they would build an $800 million coal-fired power plant in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.
Itaco is also branching out into highway and residential property development.
Major firms gain

Other large caps like PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals, Hoa Phat Group, PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services, Vinamilk, Pha Lai Thermal, and Sacombank, too were among Monday’s winners.

Of the three mutual funds, Manulife remained unchanged at VND8,600, Prudential rose marginally to close at VND10,100and VF1 edged down to end the session at VND22,800.
Hanoi’s HASTC-Index treaded water to close at 271.76 points.
Among its 127 listed stocks, there were 81 losers.

Foreign ownership cap to go up?

Foreign investors remained net buyers in Ho Chi Minh City, pumping in VND95.87 billion ($6 million) in shares of Pha Lai Thermal Power, PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals, PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services, Vinamilk, and Vinh Son Hydropower.

Vietnam News quoted Vu Bang, chairman of the State Security Commission, as saying the government could raise the foreign ownership cap for stocks traded in the Hanoi over-the-counter market.

The ceiling could go up to 49 percent, and to 100 percent for some stocks, the newspaper reported, without being more specific.

Nguyen Vu Quang Trung, a deputy director at the center, said in an interview last November that foreign investors were now allowed to own up to 30 percent of a company.

Source: Thanh Nien, Bloomberg, Reuters