PV Gas has released its financial report for the first quarter 2024, showing cash of VND42.6 trillion, or $1.7 billion, most of which has been deposited at the bank.

The volume of cash and cash equivalent that PV Gas held by the end of March increased by VND1.9 trillion over the beginning of 2024, accounting for 46 percent of total assets of the enterprise.

The large number of deposits in the first quarter of 2024 helped PV Gas earn VND4.8 billion worth of interest each day. In the first three months of the year, PV Gas received VND436 billion in interest on these deposits. 

As deposit interest rates have gone down, the real amount of interest the petroleum distributor got was lower than the same period last year (VND480 billion), though the volume of cash and cash equivalent rose sharply.

This was also why PV Gas profits in the first quarter dropped by 25 percent compared with the same period last year.

For many years, PV Gas has been among the listed enterprises with the largest amount of cash. This means that the enterprise’s financial health is good, but its business has not been as prosperous as expected. 

Bao Viet Group is believed to be the company with the highest amount of cash and short-term deposits (VND103 trillion). It also has VND105.274 trillion worth of investments in valuable papers. However, having big amounts of cash is not a surprise for Bao Viet, which is an insurance company.

Other businesses have also reported large amounts of cash, up to billions of dollars.

ACV (Airports Corporation of Vietnam) reported that by the end of the first quarter of 2024, its cash and cash equivalent was VND26.6 trillion, including VND2.6 trillion worth of demand deposits, and VND24 trillion worth of short-term (3 month-1 year) deposits.

In the first quarter of 2024, ACV had VND345 billion in interest on its deposits, down 16 percent compared with the same period last year, which was attributed to interest rate reductions. 

However, revenue increased by 1.8 times to VND2.92 trillion thanks to the recovery of the aviation market and financial cost reductions helped the enterprise, which manages 22 airports in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Binh Son Refinery reported that it had VND39.8 trillion ($1.6 billion) in cash and cash equivalent, a sharp increase compared with the VND25 trillion in early 2023.

Hoa Phat Group owned by billionaire Tran Dinh Long had VND34.7 trillion by the end of the first quarter, up VND270 billion, but its interest from deposits decreased by 20 percent to VND422 billion.

Other large corporations have reported large amounts of banks deposits and investments in bonds. The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World), for example, had VND29.3 trillion by the end of the first quarter, 26 percent higher than earlier this year. 

Meanwhile, Sabeco, a major player in the beer industry, had VND21.41 trillion (+5.2 percent), but the interest fell 19 percent to VND273 billion. 

FPT, the largest Vietnamese IT group in Vietnam, had had VND24.5 trillion.

Other enterprises, including Petrolimex (PLX), PV Oil (OIL), PTSC (PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation - PVS) and Vinhomes, are also big cash holders. The 15 enterprises with the largest amounts of cash held $18 billion in cash, many of which held more than $1 billion each.

Analysts say that most of the companies with the largest amounts of cash in the stock market and with high growth rates are operating in the fields of oil and gas, retail and finance. Meanwhile, real estate firms have seen their cash volume decrease.

Vingroup (VIC) owned by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong reported a decrease of VND35 trillion in cash by the end of March compared with earlier this year to VND31 trillion.

Meanwhile, Novaland had 3.17 trillion (VND3.4 trillion at the end of 2023), a modest figure if noting that it is a real estate giant. The noteworthy thing is that the audited firm was concerned about going concern.

Real estate firms have also reported inventory increases. Novaland’s inventory had reached VND141 trillion ($5.5 billion), an increase of VND139 trillion over late 2023. The figure for Vingroup were VND99.347 trillion.

While deposits brought businesses fat profits in the first half of 2023, the interest rate decreases in the second half made the profits decrease sharply, which shows good signs of the national economy.

Manh Ha