According to the Vietnam Bond Market Association’s (VBMA) latest report, only one private bond issuance was reported in October -- VND210 billion from Nui Phao Mining Company under the Masan Group.

In the past 10 months, there were 23 public bond issuance campaigns totaling VND10.59 trillion, accounting for 4 percent of the total issued bonds, and 413 issued private bond totaling VND240.76 trillion during this period. 

Only one Vietnamese firm – Vingroup - issued bonds on the international market twice, worth $625 million. The total value of issued bonds decreased by 56 percent year-on-year, while that of private bonds was down by 51 percent.

Commercial banks led the market, with VND136.28 trillion, making up 54 percent of total issued value, followed by real estate firms with VND51.69 trillion, or 20 percent.

Bond issuers bought back VND147.48 trillion, up by 46 percent over the same period last year.

According to VBMA, about VND47.59 trillion of bonds will mature in December. August, September and December 2023 will also have the highest amounts of bonds to mature, totaling VND36.15 trillion, VND42 trillion and VND49.9 trillion, respectively.

Some firms have recently issued bonds at high interest rates to get capital for refinancing and payments for previously issued bonds. 

Masan, for example, planned to seek VND4 trillion. In its Q3/2022 finance report, Masan said it received a $600 million syndicated loan from foreign institutions at an interest rate of 6.5 percent per annum. VIBBank announced a loan disbursement worth $150 million from the International Financial Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank (WB). 

In related news, Hoa Phat Group’s President Tran Dinh Long is now nearly off Forbes’ list of billionaires. As of November 9, Long had stock assets of $1 billion, ranking 2,429th among the world’s richest, losing $58 million from the previous review and $2.2 billion from the March 2022 list.

Manh Ha