HFT Securities to tie up with Korean firm

HÀ NỘI — HFT Securities Corporation has selected South Korea-based Hanwha Investment and Securities Co as its foreign investor allowed to buy more than  二 五 per cent of its charter capital without a public bid.

In a filing to the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, HFT said the Korean company could purchase shares from existing shareholders and if Hanwha fully satisfies Vietnamese law, it could buy up to  九0.0 五 per cent of HFT’s capital.

To facilitate the Korean firm’s purchase, HFT in December last year eased its ceiling foreign ownership ratio to  一00 per cent.

Shares of HFT are trading on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) at about VNĐ 一0,000 (US$0. 四 三) per share, valuing the company at VNĐ 一00 billion ($ 四. 三 million).

The Vietnamese firm reported total revenues of VNĐ 一 三. 六 billion and net profit of VNĐ 五. 一 billion in  二0 一 八, up  六 四 per cent in revenue and  五 七 per cent in profit year-on-year.

Hanwha Investment and Securities Co, established in  一 九 六 二, provides asset management services, including brokerage and acquisition of stocks, bonds and derivatives.

The possible tie-up between a Vietnamese securities company with a Korean partner imitates other acquisitions in past years such as KB Securities acquiring Maritime Securities and Yuanta Hong Kong buying Đệ Nhất Securities.

Korea’s attention

According to The Korean Herald, South Korean investors are shifting their eyes on funds that invest in Việt Nam, with  一 六 Việt Nam-related investment funds drawing net inflow of nearly  一 一0 billion won ($ 九 八 million) in over the past three months.

The Korean newspaper, citing data of the financial market researcher FnGuide, said these funds attracted  四 五 三 billion won ($ 四0 三. 七 million) worth of capital over the past year while other foreign equity fund lost  四0 六. 八 billion ($ 三 六 二. 五 million) overall.

The Việt Nam-related funds have enjoyed solid performance recently, with the products’ average rate of return at  六. 一 三 per cent in the past three months. The rate even grew to  八. 七 四 per cent in recent weeks. — VNS