VietNamNet Bridge – Over 60 listed companies, most of which are brokerage companies and firms operating in the shipping and building material sectors, reported losses during the first quarter of this year.

In the securities sector, draining liquidity on the stock market saw brokerage revenues for most companies shrink, with small securities businesses in general losing out to larger firms. The top 10 securities firms now hold 60-70 per cent of market share in the brokerage sector.

Sacombank Securities (SBS) was the heaviest loser in the first quarter with a loss of VND15 billion (US$714,300), while Dong A Securities (DAS) followed with a loss of VND6.5 billion ($310,000). Vina Securities and Maritime Bank Securities also reported losses of around VND5 billion ($238,100) each, reports Tri Thuc Tre.

Smaller banks including Mirae Asset Viet Nam, Phu Hung (PHS), Nam An, Hong Bang, Mekong, Navibank Securities and Sai Gon Berjaya also reported losses from tens of million of dong to one billion dong.

Meanwhile, weak consumption and demand also shrank both production and sales of building material firms. The operational costs of these businesses are often high due to their large number of employees as well as extensive business branches.

Affiliate companies of the Viet Nam Glass and Ceramics Corp (Viglacera) were hit hardest as six of their seven businesses reported losses in the first three months, including Viglacera Dong Trieu (DTC), Viglacera Dong Anh (DAC), Viglacera Ba Hien (BHV), Viglacera Tien Son (VIT), Viglacera Tu Son Ceramic (VTS) and Viglacera Ha Long I (HLY).

Only Viglacera Ha Long (VHL) posted a net profit of VND7.8 billion ($371,400).

Besides Viglacera, other building materials companies also bore heavy losses including Pomina Steel (POM), Dong Nai Roofsheet and Construction Material (DCT), Vicem Hoang Mai Cement (HOM) and Taicera Enterprise (TCR) with a loss from VND11 billion ($523,800) to VND40 billion ($1.9 million).

While many shipping enterprises are undergoing restructuring and have gained initial positive results, some are still incurring losses as low revenues could not offset expenses.

Viet Nam Ocean Shipping (VOS) topped the losers with a huge loss of nearly VND97 billion ($4.6 million). Some reported smaller losses such as Vitranschart (VST), Vinaship (VNA), South Viet Nam Container (VSG) and Vinaconex Transportation (VCV), losing from VND10 billion ($476,200) to VND43 billion (around $2 million).

Source: VNS