Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The corporate bond market saw a sharp slowdown in new issuance in July, with total new bonds falling 80% from the previous month to 26 trillion VND (994 million USD), the lowest level in five months, according to VIS Rating.
The decline came after issuance accelerated for three consecutive months, rising from 44 trillion VND in April to 55 trillion VND in May and 132 trillion VND in June.
Banks dominated July's new supply, accounting for 79%, or about 21 trillion VND, while residential property developers contributed 11%. Other sectors made up the remaining 10%.
Private placements continued to be the main fundraising channel, representing 80% of total issuance, while public offerings accounted for 20%.
Despite the contraction in supply, newly issued bonds had longer maturities. The average maturity increased to 5.5 years from 5.1 years in June. Bonds with maturities of five to 10 years accounted for 69% of issuance, while those with three-to-five-year terms made up 30%.
Coupon rates varied significantly between sectors. The average interest rate on bank bonds stood at 8.7%, compared with 12.5% for residential property bonds.
Despite the sharp monthly decline in issuance, Vietnam’s outstanding corporate bond market remained sizeable at nearly 1.5 quadrillion VND as of July. Private-placement bonds accounted for over 1.3 quadrillion VND, while publicly offered bonds represented 180 trillion VND.
Outstanding private-placement bonds edged down from 1.311 quadrillion VND in June, while public bonds increased from 175 trillion VND. Banks remained the largest group of issuers by outstanding value, with 670 trillion VND, followed by residential property developers with 452 trillion VND.
Tourism and hospitality companies had 60 trillion VND of outstanding bonds, followed by financial institutions at 45 trillion VND, energy companies at 39 trillion VND, construction firms at 35 trillion VND, and transport businesses at 34 trillion VND.
In terms of remaining maturity, the largest portion of outstanding bonds, worth 589 trillion VND, had between one and three years until maturity. Bonds with more than five years remaining totalled 392 trillion VND, while 335 trillion VND had less than one year and 171 trillion VND had between three and five years.
Meanwhile, activity on the secondary market improved substantially.
Average daily trading value reached 8.1 trillion VND in July, up 44% month-on-month. Trading was concentrated in bonds issued by several large companies in the property, banking and transport sectors.
Liquidity was particularly active among bonds with less than one year remaining and those around the two-to-three-year maturity range.
Residential property bonds accounted for a significant share of transactions in bonds with less than one year and around two years remaining, while bank bonds were traded across a broader range of maturities.
Credit-quality indicators also showed some improvement. The trailing 12-month bond default rate edged down to 0.29% in July from 0.30% in June. Newly defaulted bonds during the month totalled 2.2 trillion VND.
The rate was also substantially below the 0.56% recorded in July 2025.
Progress continued in resolving previously delayed bond payments. By July, 142 trillion VND had been repaid to bondholders, up from 137 trillion VND a month earlier. Bonds whose maturity dates had been extended stood at 39 trillion VND, while 112 trillion VND remained without updated information on their resolution.
Maturity pressure, however, remains a key factor for the market. VIS Rating estimated that 242 trillion VND of corporate bonds will mature over the next 12 months, compared with 189 trillion VND that matured during the preceding 12-month period./.
VNA
