A number of securities firms posted huge profits in the first quarter of this year, but many were in difficulty although the market is recovering.

According to the statistics of Dau Tu Chung Khoan (Securities Investment) newspaper, to date, 78 securities firms have reported their first quarter's business results, with total pre-tax profit reaching nearly 1.4 trillion VND (67.3 million USD), more than doubling the figure of the same period last year.

Notably, the gain was mostly registered by 30 companies, which each earned upwards of 2 billion VND (95,000 USD), including FPT Securities (FPTS), Vietcombank Securities and VNDirect Securities.

FPTS reported the first quarter's profit at 38.6 billion VND (1.8 million USD) and nearly 70 billion VND (3.3 million USD), which is 68 percent and 43 percent higher, respectively, than the same period last year. FPTS attributed its soaring profit to the recovery in the stock market, which helped to boost the revenue from brokerage.

VNDirect Securities also gained 59.3 billion VND (2.8 million VND) in pre-tax profits, or equivalent to a 110 percent growth rate over the same period last year.

The turnover from brokerage activities constituted 46 percent of VNDirect's 104.5 billion VND (4.9 million USD) total revenue.

The revenue from the brokerage of Vietcombank Securities also soared by nearly 100 percent to reach nearly 30 billion VND (1.42 million USD) out of the net revenue of 109.4 billion VND (5.2 million USD).

The Vietcombank Securities' after-tax profits jumped 315.4 percent over the same period last year to reach 40 billion VND (1.9 million USD) in this year's first quarter.

Sai Gon Securities, one of the securities firms with the largest brokerage market share, also gained 303 billion VND (14.4 million USD) in after-tax profits. Other securities firms that posted profits were Hai Phong Securities, Kim Long Securities, Sai Gon–Hanoi Securities, and Agribank Securities.

The growth of many securities firms in the first quarter of this year mainly came from the soaring brokerage revenue, which analysts attributed to the recovery in the stock market.

Statistics revealed that the VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Exchange soared 17.23 percent during the first quarter. The southern bourse's total trading volume and value reached 7.69 billion shares and 130.6 trillion VND (6.2 billion USD), rising by more than 40 percent and 69 percent over the figures reported during the previous quarter.

On the northern bourse, the trading volume and value also strongly increased, with 4.7 billion shares traded during the first quarter of this year, increasing by 70 percent, with the total value reaching 47.5 trillion VND (2.2 billion USD), more than doubling the figures recorded in the previous quarter.

Although the market rebounded, 18 companies incurred losses in the first quarter, totalling 15.6 billion VND (743,000 USD). In addition, 30 companies had a turnover from brokerage - their core business - of less than 1 billion VND (47,000 USD), modest in comparison with their total charter capital of 5.44 trillion VND (259 million USD).

Securities firms could continue to encounter difficulty this year, after more than 60 percent (58 out of 94 companies) posted aggregated losses last year, the finance ministry's statistics showed, as a result of the market decline in the past few years.

The restructuring of securities firms is underway, and the State Securities Commission had previously said that it would create favourable conditions for the companies to hasten the process through mergers and acquisitions.-VNA