Vietnamese bonds failing to compete in overseas markets

Vietnamese bonds failing to compete in overseas markets

Only three Vietnamese bonds are listed on the international market, and their liquidity remains low.

Vietinbank’s bond has the highest liquidity on the list, which also includes bonds from Masan Group (MSN) and Vingroup (VIC). However, since it was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in May last year, the bond’s value in a trading session reached only a few thousand US dollars.

Moreover, the Vietinbank bond’s trading value in Singapore is much lower than that of bonds purchased domestically. Bonds from the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam sell for VND100 billion ($4.7 million) per session on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, accounting for 10 per cent of their total issued value. On the Singapore Stock Exchange, other bonds are valued at millions of dollars.

Trinh Quang Dung, bond analyst of Vietinbank Securities Co., said that investors who bought Vietnamese bonds tended to hold onto them until they matured.

While Vietinbank bonds still see two to four transactions each month, Masan and Vingroup bonds are rarely traded.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) had to terminate the listing of its convertible bonds in Singapore last year due to the lack of trades, which made the listing costs untenable.

The bleak condition of internationally listed bonds is a significant discouragement to enterprises.

Vietcombank (VCB), the National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Viet Nam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) expressed wishes to sell bonds on the international market last year. However, according to the Ministry of Finance, these three giants have not submitted plans yet.

“We are waiting for a better economic scenario both within the country and out there in the world,” said Vinacomin deputy general director Nguyen Van Bien.

vietnamnet, vietnamnews