HÀ NỘI — FiinPro Talk #6 “Vietnamese Banking Stocks: Investment Opportunities and Risks” will take place in HCM City on April 19.

The event will be attended by senior experts in the banking and financial industry and some 150 participants, including fund and asset managers, financial investors, banking executives and analysts. They will share their knowledge and insight on the important trends of Việt Nam’s banking industry and finance companies, macroeconomic or monetary policies affecting the banking system and the stock market in Việt Nam, as well as chances and threats when gaining exposure in banking stocks.

Key themes to be addressed during the event include the banking sector landscape; key growth drivers in 2018 and the near future; major policies and their implications for banking stocks and IPOs; key investment considerations in listed stocks and upcoming listings; and upside opportunities and risks in select banking stocks. 

After going through the difficult period of 2008-12, the Vietnamese banking system has made a strong comeback since 2013, supported by a gradually improving economic environment and the recovery of the real estate market.

Over the last four years from 2013 to 2017, the credit outstanding balance has increased at an annual growth rate of 17.2 per cent, of which personal loans grew by 40.8 per cent annually, as calculated by StoxPlus. Consumer finance companies also experienced a strong growth in the loan book at an annual average of 66.5 per cent over the same period and are now considered "counterweights" to the traditional banking model.

These days, the banking industry is reaping impressive results. There used to be only nine listed banks with total market capitalisation of US$11.8 billion in 2013. Now, 15 banks are listed on the two stock exchanges, with total capitalisation of $40 billion, accounting for 21.5 per cent of total market capitalisation. The stock price of the banking sector increased by 73.2 per cent in 2017 and recently rose by 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, while the VN-Index rose by 48 per cent and 19.3 per cent, respectively.

By March 30, 2018, the banks’ stocks are trading at 3.2x its Book Value and 20.3x its trailing earnings. It also witnessed a number of M&A transactions between foreign partners and consumer finance companies.

In the coming months, market players and the investor community are looking forward to a series of listings from banks and consumer finance companies, including Techcombank (TCB), Tiền Phong Bank (TPBank), Oriental Commercial Bank (OCB) and FE Credit. Some of them have just seen soaring share prices on the OTC market. — VNS