Customs

International lenders signing the credit facility to support VietinBank Securities

VietinBank securities has received additional funding support with the recent signing of $60 million of syndicated loans, following a $30 million facility just a month ago.

On April 15, a consortium of major international lenders operating in Vietnam – Woori Bank Vietnam (Bac Ninh Branch), Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Vietnam, and Cathay United Bank Vietnam – has inked an agreement to facilitate $60 million for the additional financial needs of VietinBank Securities.

In particular, Woori Bank Vietnam (Bac Ninh Branch) specifically provided $50 million, while Taipei Fubon and Cathay United provided $10 million altogether.

Last month, a group of four Taiwanese lenders – the Union Bank of Taiwan, Taichung Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.’s Labuan branch, Taishin International Bank, and Huanan Commercial Bank – also rolled out a $30 million syndicated loan with a 12-month tenure for VietinBank Securities.

“We firmly believe that $90 million of high-profile syndicated loans would bring about more additional capacity for us to increase our foothold in Vietnam’s equity market and access to more potential customers,” noted Ho Thi Thu Hien, chairwoman of the board at VietinBank Securities.

On the same note, Lee Myoung Ho, Woori Bank Vietnam (Bac Ninh Branch) director and chief representative, applauded the brokerage’s vast potential and how the syndicated loans could pave the way for the company to bolsters its strength thanks to the competitive capital.

“Woori Bank is one of the largest South Korean banks with extensive years of experience in providing top-notch financial services. With our vast experience, we believe in VietinBank Securities’ strong standing and impressive performance in the past year,” he told VIR .

The deal is envisaged to lay concrete foundations for the company to boost its activities related to international loan advisory and financing arrangements.

At the signing ceremony, VietinBank Securities also connected businesses in various areas, such as Novaland Group, Minh Phu Seafood Group, Viet Hung Industrial Investment JSC, Louis Agro Group JSC, and other enterprises.

As one of the eldest, most experienced seven brokerage companies in the country, VietinBank Securities – as a part of state-owned lender VietinBank – has a proven customer-centric approach, with a wide range of tailored financial services such as underwriting-capital raising, mergers and acquisitions advisory, and asset management, to name a few.

Lychee being canned for export to the US. Viet Nam’s exports to the US in the first two months of the year accounted for $13.83 billion or 28.4 per cent of total exports. VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

Exports for the year as of March 15 were worth US$62.01 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.7 per cent, according to the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

Exports to the US in the first two months of the year accounted for $13.83 billion or 28.4 per cent of total exports.

In recent years the US has become Viet Nam’s biggest market. Last year, for instance, at $76.4 billion it accounted for 27 per cent of the latter’s total exports.

Than Duc Viet, general director of Garment 10 Joint Stock Company, said there were several factors behind Viet Nam’s rapid growth in exports including to the US.

Primarily, he said, the COVID-19 pandemic has gradually been controlled around the world, especially after several countries started vaccinating their populations, enabling many of them to reopen their borders and trade to resume.

Businesses in the country, hit badly for the last year or so by the pandemic, are making strenuous efforts to bounce back, he pointed out.

Many countries around the world have rolled out large stimulus packages to spend their way out of the economic slump, and this has revived trade, he added.

Many analysts concurred with these views, saying the US recently launched a $1.9 trillion package to make direct payments of $1,400 to individuals earning up to $75,000 a year starting in April.

This is the third and largest stimulus since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

Viet Nam, one of the US’s major exporters, supplying essential items like fisheries products and garments and electronics, is expected to benefit from this relief package.

Viet of Garment 10 told Dau Tu Chung Khoan magazine that Vietnamese exporters hope to get orders from the US.

Americans are known as big spenders, and if they get the money from the Government consumption would surely rise, he said.

His own company’s exports to the US saw relatively high growth in the first quarter and are expected to grow further due to the huge new stimulus package.

Bui Viet Quang, general director of Red River Garment Joint Stock Company, said his company had enough export orders for until August this year, 80 per cent from the US.

“The US’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package will surely affect enterprises that export to the market. We expect to see robust growth [in US export orders] in the fourth quarter.”

Analysts said a recovery in the US economy would help Vietnamese exporters, especially those in the textile and garment industry.

However, analysts also sounded a warning saying while the US stimulus packages would benefit Viet Nam’s exporters in the short term, loose monetary policies could cause high inflation, which would increase their costs whereas they would not be able to increase prices immediately, affecting their margins.

Besides, the inflation would also hurt demand, they added.

Why property companies want to own banks

Nguyen Tuan Anh, director of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s department of credit for economic sectors, said growth in bank lending to the property sector in 2020 was 9.97 per cent, lower than the overall credit growth rate of 12.13 per cent.

This is becoming an emerging trend.

Enterprises in the sector have found it difficult to borrow from banks after the central bank issued a circular in 2019 prescribing limits and prudential ratios for banks.

It reduced the use of short-term deposits for medium- and long-term loans from 40 per cent to 37 per cent from October 2021 and to 30 per cent from October 2022.

This was aimed at controlling credit to high-risk sectors like real estate.

In the event, the only option real estate companies have is to themselves acquire stakes in banks.

They also target owning a piece of securities firms since that would enable them to mobilise capital from the market by issuing stocks and bonds.

Thus, Tran Thi Thu Hang, the CEO of Sunshine group, became vice chairwoman of the Kien Long Joint Stock Commercial Bank in 2018 and chairwoman of KS Joint Stock Company (KS Securities) around the same time, indicating that Sunshine or related parties had become major shareholders in the two.

Analysts said the finance and property sectors always have a symbiotic relationship since the latter is highly capital intensive with slow returns.

Thus, Vingroup has tied up with Techcombank, MIKGroup with VPBank, Dat Xanh Group with Viet A Bank, and TNR Holdings Viet Nam with MSB.

While the Government’s efforts to control lending to the property sector have had some effect, banks remain an important source of funding for real estate development projects.

This trend is expected continue in future, analysts said. VNS

Vietjet is offering customers an all-inclusive ticket price of only VND468,000 (US$20) on all flight routes across Viet Nam in order to celebrate the national holidays of April 30-May 1.

The promotional airfares including taxes and fees are available during the three golden days from Monday to Wednesday this week for the flight time from April 20 to December 31, 2021 (excluding national holidays and peak season).

From now until April 25, 2021, customers will also receive free 20kg of checked baggage in addition with 7kg hand luggage besides many other products and preferential services.

The airline suggested passengers to fully comply with the mandatory health declaration via https://tokhaiyte.vn, save and show the information upon checking in at airports as well as wearing face masks during their flights. — VNS

Novaland Investment Group’s head office in Nguyen Du Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. — Photo vinhomecitys.com

The market ended lower last week as many large-cap stocks faced selling pressure after the VN-Index hit a new high of over 1,255 points. Some analysts from securities firms expected that the market’s bullish trend will continue this week, while others were more cautious and see a downward trend dominating the market.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell 8.54 points, or 0.68 per cent, in Friday’s trade to 1,238.71 points. The index hit a record high of 1,255.87 points on Wednesday.

For the week, the index still rose slightly by 0.57 per cent, while foreign investors net sold a value of over VND2.4 trillion.

Analyst from Saigon – Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) said that the third straight weekly gain of the market and a new record in liquidity showed investors’ big interest during this period. However, based on Elliott Wave Theory, the index was likely at the end of wave 5 last week and is about to turn to corrective waves with a closest target being around 1,135 points.

Therefore, a downward trend might influence the market this week, SHS added.

The index struggled and strongly fluctuated around 1,250 points, but failed to break through the level in the last session. The market breadth, besides some blue-chip stocks in real estate sectors and steel stocks, was negative last week.

Tran Xuan Bach, a senior stock analyst from Bao Viet Securities Company, also expected that the market might continue to be weighed by selling pressure this week.

“The VN-Index still receives support from the zone of 1,225 – 1,232 points in some early sessions this week,” Bach wrote in a daily report to customers.

“The market is likely to be influenced by some large-cap stocks, as well as a strong division of stock groups during this period.”

Meanwhile, analysts from Viet Dragon Securities Corporation (VDSC) were more optimistic about the market as large cash inflows into the market in the last session limited the losses.

Sharing the positive view, MB Securities JSC (MBS) said that the last session’s steep fall has boosted cash flows into the market for bottom fishing, creating a notable recovery.

On the technical front, the upward trend, which has extended over the last two months, will continue with the support territory in the short-term being 1,220 points, MBS added.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) also declined 1.02 per cent on Friday to 293.11 points. For the week, the index fell 0.23 per cent.

Real estate stocks posted outstanding performance last week as it went against the market’s trend in most sessions. Followed by material stocks.

Of which, Vingroup JSC (VIC), Novaland Investment Group Corporation (NVL) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG) contributed the most to help the market cap losses. These stocks climbed 16.29 per cent, 4.73 per cent and 4.46 per cent, respectively.

On the contrary, top three stocks influencing the market’s trend were Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR), JSC Bank For Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (VNM).

In general, Viet Nam’s stock market was not so positive last week despite the benchmark increasing slightly as selling pressure spread to all sectors and foreign investors net sold a value in the trillions of dong. — VNS

Chubb Life Vietnam always stands ready to provide timely and practical support to the community

Since opening its first office in the country in 2005, Chubb Life Vietnam has focused on creating a positive impact and sustainable development for the communities in which it operates. The company now employs over 40,000 employees and agents, in over 140 offices across Vietnam and makes an important contribution to the development of the country’s education system.

To date, Chubb Life Vietnam and the Chubb Charitable Foundation have contributed over VND30 billion ($1.3 million) to the construction of nine new schools in Central Vietnam. The company has also funded new educational equipment to schools and awarded scholarships to support thousands of underprivileged students in their schooling.

“We are proud to receive the Certificate of Merit from the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam as part of our continuous effort to support the communities we live and work in,” said Lam Hai Tuan, chairman and country president of Chubb Life Vietnam. “With our goal of sustainable development, Chubb Life Vietnam not only focuses on maintaining exceptional business performance but also strives to create long-term value for our customers and their communities. This award is a great recognition and encouragement to our employees’ unwavering effort to support Vietnam’s future generation.”

Lam Hai Tuan added: “I want to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry for their support and recognition of our work helping to ensure a brighter future for the younger generation.”

Chubb Life Vietnam always stands ready to provide timely and practical support to the community. When a series of rainstorms hit Vietnam’s central region in October 2020, the company donated 15,000 warm coats to children in the affected area through the “Chubb Life Vietnam – Am Tinh Mien Trung ” initiative. Not only did this provide much needed material aid, but it also comforted students and allowed them to get back to their study with ease.

Chubb is the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance, and life insurance to a diverse group of clients.

Chubb Life is the international life insurance division of Chubb. In Vietnam since 2005, Chubb Life launched its fund management company (Chubb Life Fund Management Co., Ltd.) in 2013. The company offers a range of life protection, health, savings, and investment-linked insurance solutions through its agents and its wide network of offices.

Fresh CEO rush shakes up Vietnam’s banking arena, photo Le Toan

In February, Shinhan Bank Vietnam named Lee Taekyung, former CEO of Shinhan Bank Cambodia, as new CEO of the local franchise. With 29 years of experience under his belt, Taekyung has been in charge of various positions of strategy, planning, risk management, and marketing, among others.

He previously took the helm as head of the Global Business Division of Shinhan Bank Korea and gained working experience at Shinhan Bank America and Shinhan Bank Cambodia. In the latter, Taekyung doubled the size of the bank, including assets, profits, the number of branches, and employees in just two years.

“In the ever-evolving financial landscape, customers’ needs will change quickly. We must be a bank that keeps pace with customer changes with customer-oriented value as the top priority,” he noted. “Vietnam is the most important country globally for Shinhan Financial Group, and we sincerely appreciate all of the customers. Shinhan Bank Vietnam will continue to expand corporate social responsibility activities in Vietnam and contribute more to society.”

Standard Chartered Vietnam also appointed a new CEO in February. Michele Wee, a seasoned banker with over 25 years of industry experience, joined Standard Chartered in 2011 as global head of E-commerce Sales to build a business distribution channel for the bank’s Financial Markets (FM) clients.

Prior to her appointment as CEO in this country, she was the head of FM for Singapore, Australia, and Brunei, in which she was responsible for the development and execution of these markets’ FM strategy.

“Vietnam is an important market for our global network with significant opportunities to develop our businesses with universal banking capabilities. My key focus will be on providing valuable support and benefits to our clients, regulators, and the communities, building on our unrivalled local knowledge and international expertise,” Wee said.

She takes over the reins from Nirukt Sapru who was appointed as CEO for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in 2013, and in 2015 took on the expanded role as the regional CEO for ASEAN and South Asia cluster markets including Australia, Brunei, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Last year, the Vietnamese subsidiary of Deutsche Bank appointed Huynh Buu Quang, former CEO of Maritime Bank (MSB), as its acting CEO. Quang had served as the CEO of locally-invested bank MSB for four years. He has 25 years of experience in the banking and financial sector and had previously held senior positions at HSBC.

Deutsche Bank’s Asia-Pacific CEO Alexander von zur Muehlen said, “With Vietnam a key growth market for our bank in ASEAN, we are delighted to have an individual of Quang’s calibre and experience leading the next phase in the expansion of the local franchise.”

In the region, Deutsche Bank AG has a long track record in providing corporate finance and advisory solutions to Vietnamese corporates, leading a number of notable capital market transactions. The bank’s expertise in loans and structured finance is also well known. Since 2017, Deutsche Bank has raised more than $1 billion in debt, loan and equity capital annually for Vietnamese corporates. The German lender confirmed its commitment in Vietnam to support higher trade flows from Europe, which are expected to increase following the recently ratified EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

Specifically, major Thai bank Kasikornbank received approval from the State Bank of Vietnam to open its Ho Chi Minh City branch in February. Kasikornbank aims to serve Thai business customers and clients of all shapes and sizes who have invested in Vietnam, as well as local retail customers. It targets lending of 10 billion baht ($318 million) in its first year of operation while also investing in startups with the aim of scouting advanced digital technologies for increased business opportunities.

“Kasikornbank has used the knowledge gained from services offered at its two representative offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in order to upgrade the representative office in Ho Chi Minh City to a bank branch. It will focus on offering services to Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean companies wishing to expand their businesses in Vietnam for international trade and investment, as well as local entrepreneurs, especially those conducting business with Thai corporate customers of Kasikornbank,” the bank stated.

Elsewhere, Mizuho Financial Group, one of Japan’s largest financial groups, appointed managing executive officer of its banking unit Masahiko Katoas the new CEO of the bank in February.