Vincom says 2010 net profit leaps 121 pct

Vincom Joint Stock Co, one of Vietnam's leading real estate developers, said on Friday its net profit jumped 121 percent to VND2.43 trillion (US$116.5 million) last year.

Revenue soared 96 percent from the year before to VND3.87 trillion, boosted by income from recently completed Vincom Center, a retail, office and apartment complex in central Ho Chi Minh City, the company said in a statement posted on its website (www.vincom.com.vn).

Total assets of the firm hit VND11.83 trillion last year, up 83 percent from a year before, it said.

In December, the Hanoi-based firm said it planned to raise up to $450 million by listing shares on the Singapore stock exchange in the first half of this year.

Vincom said on Friday it had selected advisers for the listing but gave no details on timing.

The firm listed shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in 2007 and is now one of Vietnam's top companies in terms of market capitalization.

Vincom founder and board member Pham Nhat Vuong was Vietnam's richest person based on the value of securities holdings in 2010, news website Vnexpress.net reported in December. It said he was worth VND15.8 trillion ($760 million).

Vincom's stock was trading 3.3 percent higher at VND124,000 at 0322 GMT. It has jumped 27 percent since the end of 2010 and 134 percent since the end of 2009. ($1 = VND20,865).

Hong Kong firm to build beverage-can plant

The Hong Kong-based TBC-Ball Beverage Can Holding Limited has received the license and is set to begin construction of a US$50 million can manufacturing plant in Binh Duong Province near Ho Chi Minh City.

The eight-hectare plant, to be built in the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), will have a capacity of 850 million cans a year when completed in 2012.

It will supply domestic beverage manufacturers as well as export to neighboring countries like Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.

This year the VSIP has attracted investments of $150 million, including $85 million in four existing projects.

Samsung Vietnam exports top $2 bln

Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co Ltd, which earned its first US$1 billion in exports of electronic products last September, has doubled it since.

The Korean company, which set up shop in the Yen Phong 1 Industrial Zone in Bac Ninh Province in April 2009, is achieving rapid growth due to strong investment in finance and technology.

Its rate of use of local products has reached 20 percent.

With its exports now worth around $300 million a month, the company expects to reach the $5-billion mark by the end of 2011 and become one of the biggest exporters among foreign-invested firms.

Catfish shortage causes processing plants to shut

Catfish processing plants in the Mekong Delta are working well below capacity due to a severe shortage of catfish.

“Many plants have suspended operations, others work at just 50 percent capacity,” said Le Chi Binh, vice chairman of the An Giang Province aquaculture and production association.

The severe shortage of catfish has seen prices escalate to a record VND25,000 (US$1.2) per kilogram, VND3,000 higher than last November.

The main reason for the shortage is the shrinkage in farming area in the Mekong Delta by around 5 percent since last year. Many famers pulled out of the business saying they were unable to cope with the high interest rates and the relentless increases in prices of feed and medicines for catfish.

Another problem for farmers is the shortage of juveniles after they sold out their breeding fish stocks in 2009 when faced with bankruptcy.

Many processors planned to raise catfish themselves but it was unprofitable due to the high feed costs and large investments required.

“A plant with the capacity of 200 tons of fish a day requires capital of more than VND 1 billion (US$50,000) and 70,000 tons of material fish a year,” said Nguyen Duy Nhut, Nam Viet Group’s deputy general director.

Vietnam’s catfish exports are set to fall by a whopping 45 percent this year to 360,000 tons, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said.

They are expected to fetch $1 billion, $400 million less last year.

President pledges good conditions for Nokia

The Nokia group should believe in fruitful investment prospects in Vietnam on the grounds of the current growing cooperation between Vietnam and Finland , said State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

At a reception in Hanoi on March 3, President Triet warmly welcomed Vice President of the Finnish Nokia Group Esko Aho on his business trip to kick off the building of a mobile phone plant in Vietnam .

Triet expressed his hope that the construction of the Nokia plant in Vietnam will start soon so it will contribute to the host country’s socio-economic development, as well as the group’s growth.

He reiterated that Vietnam has always created favourable conditions for foreign investors, including Nokia, to invest in the country.

The Nokia executive told his host that the group aims to complete construction of its Vietnam mobile phone plant by the end of 2012, so it can launch the first products to the market at the beginning of 2013, with 95 percent targeted for export.

Located in the northern province of Bac Ninh , the 2.5 billion USD plant is expected to create jobs for about 10,000 Vietnamese workers.

Savills Vietnam launches new corporate website

The interface of Savills Vietnam's new websiteSavills Vietnam has launched its new corporate website at www.savills.com.vn, following the model of Savills global website and closely connected to its global network.

The new website has been constructed under close cooperation amongst Savills marketing & IT team in Vietnam, Hong Kong and UK.

The format and design of the website is strictly followed Savills global corporate brand identity to ensure the marketing communication of Savills group is consistent all over the world.

The Savills Vietnam’s website is linked with Savills website in various countries such as UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, China, Australia, France, German and many other websites of its worldwide network.

Entering the new website, the readers could access a huge amount of information about Savills Vietnam’s service lines, project track records, property showcases, case studies, quarterly real estate market research, marketing activities.

It also provides general information about Savills, its key facts, structure, history, value and vision. In addition, the website also publicizes articles about real estate market review from Savills Vietnam’s senior heads and directors.

The career section publicizes current job opportunities for talents that passionate to join Savills professional and high quality driven team.

The website also facilitates download function for users to easily download and save useful documents such as a full collection of Savills market research, a full soft copy of Residential outlook.

The search engine in the website will enable users to find Savills’ office and staff all over the world.

Moreover, the residential property search function is integrated into the website for users to find out an ideal residential option within a wide range of price, size and location amongst an unrivalled property selection that Savills offers not just in Vietnam but also in countries worldwide.

With network throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East now all integrated together in one global website system, Savills enables the website users to find properties in a global scale.

“This new website will offer a range of information for anyone looking for a service, a case study, a contact and more. We believe that this new website will prove very user friendly and provide yet another link between Savills and our clients and the public,” said Brett Ashton, managing director of Savills Vietnam.

“The new site offers customers, partners, investors, developers, constructors and the industry participants easily accessible information on everything from our people and our expertise to career chances and our latest news,” said Matthew Powell, director of Savills Hanoi.

150 exhibitors for Ho Chi Minh City furniture fair

More than 150 local and overseas furniture makers will take part in the annual Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair to be held in Ho Chi Minh City from March 11 to 14.

To be organized at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7, it will feature 650 booths, 10 percent higher than last year last year, according to the HCMC Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA), the organizer.

Wooden furniture will account for two-thirds of the exhibition, followed by machinery and handicrafts.

More than 1000 visitors have registered for the fair, including traders and importers from 76 countries and territories, HAWA added.

Banks breach interest rate cap to get deposits

Some banks are exceeding the interest rate cap of 14 percent by offering bonus rates and promotions to attract deposits, newswire Vnexpress reported.

One offers a bonus interest rate of 3 percent for long-time depositors, Vnexpress said without naming the bank.

The bank’s director blamed the violation on rising inflation and dollar exchange rates and the fact that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has withdrawn VND30 trillion (US$1.44 billion) it had pumped in.

ABBank offers up to 16 percent on all deposits of at least VND500 million for one to three-month terms, according to online newspaper Dat Viet.

An analyst said the SBV injected VND26 trillion through open market operations on February 28 but only for a seven-day term, warning banks’ liquidity will be hit upon its withdrawal.

“As inflation and exchange rate pressures are rising, the government and the SBV have sent signals of stepping up the inflation fight, and small banks must seek ways to avoid liquidity risks,” he said.

“They must raise interest rates to raise funds in case of a liquidity shortage since they cannot rely on emergency support from the SBV.”

Nguyen Van Giau, the SBV governor, assured there is enough liquidity in the banking system, pointing out demand is no longer high after the Lunar New Year.

If banks violate the interest rate cap, SBV will take measures to penalize them, including by closure of branches.

Last December Techcombank sparked off an interest rate war by hiking deposit interest to 17 percent. But the central bank stepped in a day later and called halt by setting a cap.

Vietnam's no.2 bank BIDV plans share sale, offshore bonds

State-run Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, the country's second-biggest bank by assets, plans to step up its privatization process this year and may sell overseas bonds to raise US$500 million.

The Hanoi-based unlisted lender, also known as BIDV, said on Thursday its "equitization", or partial privatization, was aimed at strengthening its financial capacity by raising its registered capital to between VND18 trillion and VND19 trillion ($867 million to $915 million).

It did not give any exact timing for a share issue.

BIDV's announcement that it wants to speed up its privatization bid, which has been on hold for several years, follows similar plans from major state-owned companies, such as top fuel distributor Petrolimex, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and the telecoms unit of Vietnam Electricity group.

BIDV said it would continue to work with government agencies on the issue of $500 million worth of bonds on international markets to increase its Tier-2 capital when "market conditions are favorable".

The lender also gave no timing for the issue.

In December Standard & Poor's Ratings and Moody's Investors Service downgraded BIDV and several other domestic banks and also cut Vietnam's credit ratings on concerns the banking sector has become more vulnerable to shocks.

BIDV projects credit growth this year of 19 percent, in line with a government target for the entire banking sector to keep Vietnam's annual lending below 20 percent in 2011 to control inflation, after lending jumped 27.7 percent last year.

State-owned Agribank, Vietnam's largest lender by assets, has also projected to keep its lending growth this year at between 11-12 percent, the central bank-run Banking Times newspaper reported. ($1=VND20,765).

US cuts anti-dumping tariff on Vietnam shrimps

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has approved to further cut the antidumping tariff on Vietnamese frozen shrimp exported to the country between February 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors.

The new tariffs, resulted from DOC’s 5th review session on the matter, are lower than the rate that DOC announced in September last year.

Accordingly, 29 Vietnamese shrimp exporters will enjoy the reduction: from 3.92 percent to 1.52 percent.

The common rate for the others who are not eligible for the tax cut is 25.76 percent.

Moreover, the tariff is exempted for Nha Trang Seaproduct Co while it was reduced from 2.95 percent to 1.67 percent for Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Co, and from 3.92 to 1.36 percent for Canimex Co.

Agency urges closer eye on foreign projects

Administration of foreign direct investment should be improved at the local and provincial levels to boost the quality of projects, says an official from the Foreign Investment Agency.

Do Nhat Hoang, head of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said one measure to improve the quality of FDI activities would be to boost the quality of available statistics and information from cities and provinces about their FDI projects.

Every month, the agency used statistics and information from cities and provinces to write reports to submit to the Government to set plans for attracting future FDI, Hoang said.

However, sometimes the cities and provinces did not update their figures and information each month, he said. Meanwhile, the national legal system did not have provisions to penalise authorities for delays in information updates.

In addition, cities and provinces should also take care in choosing FDI projects in order to ensure good conditions for project-related activities, Hoang said.

Recently, some FDI project officials complained about the lack of electricity for their operations, he said. Local authorities should carefully consider local conditions to ensure they could meet the demands for all FDI projects, especially those that used a lot of electricity.

This year, the nation expected to attract a total of US$20 billion in registered FDI and $11-11.5 billion in FDI disbursement, Hoang said, adding that these numbers represented only a slight change over total registered FDI of $18.59 billion and total disbursed FDI of $11 billion in 2010.

Phan Huu Thang, director of the Centre for Foreign Investment Study (CFIS) under the University of Economics and Business at the Viet Nam National University, agreed with the State's FDI expectations for this year and added that the similarity between this year and last year was because traditional investors such as South Korea, the US, the EU and Taiwan were closely managing their foreign investments as they were in the process of economic recovery.

Thang said attracting FDI had entered a new stage that required high quality, efficiency and suitable targets that were also environmentally sustainable.

Viet Nam should also quickly solve obstacles, including lack of electricity, human resource and service infrastructure, to attract more FDI, Thang said.