Vinamilk drives market higher

Hanoi (VNA) - Shares rebounded on November 5 after Vinamilk, Vietnam's biggest stock by market value, surged amid investor expectation that the Government will soon issue details about its divestment of State capital from this company.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index advanced 0.8 percent to close at 615.2 points after edging down 0.2 percent on the previous day.

In the smaller market in Hanoi, the HNX-Index inched up 0.2 percent higher to end the session at 81.9 points. The Index decreased 0.2 percent in the previous session.

Vinamilk surged 4.1 percent on November 5 to finish at 128,000 VND (5.71 USD) a share, remaining the biggest stock by market capitalization in Vietnam, valued at 153.7 trillion VND (6.9 billion) USD.

The share price has climbed almost 25.5 percent since October 14 on news that the Government directed the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to sell its 45.1 percent stake in Vinamilk "in a suitable time".

The dairy company has also proposed that the Government should soon announce the divestment road map as well as criteria to pick investors. It has also suggested allowing full foreign ownership to support the development of the Vietnamese dairy brand overseas.

Early this week, local media reported Singapore's food and beverage Fraser & Neave Limited (F&N) has proposed to buy SCIC's 45.1 percent stakes in Vinamilk in a deal worth 4 billion USD, but the Singaporean company denied this information.

The dairy firm topped the list of 50 most valuable brands on the Vietnamese stock market, which was released by UK-based Brand Finance at mid-October. The company is worth more than 1.1 billion USD in value.

Vinamilk reported a net profit of over 2.1 trillion VND (94 million USD) in the third quarter, up 55 percent year-on-year. Ending September, it earned almost 5.9 trillion VND (263.4 million USD) in net profit, up over 35 percent year-on-year.

In a report in September, Saigon Securities Inc forecast Vinamilk's earnings would rise 24 percent in 2015 but after the higher-than-expected earnings result in nine months, the securities company said this week it could raise its forecast for the company by year-end.

Apart from Vinamilk, insurance companies saw big gains yesterday. Bao Minh Insurance Corp surged by the daily limit of 7 percent while Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) increased 3.2 percent. Other insurers also rose between 3 percent and 5 percent.

The overall market condition was positive with 33.3 percent of 680 trading stocks advanced while 25 percent declined.

Liquidity decreased with 139.2 million shares worth over 2.2 trillion VND (98.2 million USD) being traded in the two markets, down 20.2 percent in volume and 34 percent in value from November 4's figures.-VNA