VietNamNet Bridge - The news that the government has decided to sell eight listed companies has had immediate positive impact on the stock market. However, experts say it is still too early to say how the sales will affect the national economy in the long term.

In a newly released document, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), which, on behalf of the state, invests state money in enterprises, will divest eight listed companies and two unlisted ones at suitable times. 

The eight listed companies include Vinamilk, of which the state holds a 45.1 percent of stake, BMI (50.7 percent), VNR (40.4 percent), NTP (37.1 percent), BMP (38.4 percent), FPT (6 percent), SGC (49.9 percent) and HGM (46.6 percent) and two unlisted companies, FPT Telecom (50.2 percent) and VIID, a real estate developer (47.6 percent).

The analysts from the HCM City Securities Company (HSC) in a report released on October 4 commented that the government’s decision on selling 10 profitable state-owned enterprises (SOEs) relates to the situation of the state budget. The government may plan to use the money it gets from the sale to invest in infrastructure development projects.

HSC believes that the information will have a positive impact on the market as the supply of blue chips is still short, which makes it difficult to attract big capital flow into the market.

Another large financial institution forecasted that by selling Vinamilk’s shares alone, the state would get no less than $2.5 billion, while Vinamilk’s shares will bring great investment opportunities to investors, especially foreigners who favor the shares.

The government’s decision to sell the 10 profitable businesses showed that it thinks it is the right time to sell its ‘saved assets’.

“The state understands that it should not act as a professional investor anymore, while its major job is creating a favorable environment for investors to make money,” he added.

HSC, while believing that the sale of SOEs will ‘make a breakthrough’ that helps foreign investors access more blue chips, commented that investors will still need to wait to see how big the breakthrough is.

SCIC still has not made a decision about the exact time when it puts the shares on sale. It is unclear if the changes in the definition about foreign investors/companies as suggested in the draft decree to replace the Decree No 74 would be approved. And it is also unclear what the list of conditional business fields will be.

HSC, therefore, believes that the divestment will not be implemented in the short term.

TBKTSG