Bao Viet Securities posts first-half loss
Source: 26-JUL-2008 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
Jul 26, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM Bao Viet Securities Joint-Stock Co., the sixth-biggest company by market value on the Hanoi exchange, lost dong 321 billion (US$19.3 million) in the first half because the stock market plunged, its CEO said.

"The stock market has slumped unexpectedly in the first six months and that hurt our brokerage and securities investment,'' Nguyen Quang Vinh said in a phone interview Tuesday.

The Hanoi-based company made 393 billion dong (US$23.5 million) in provisions for losses on its own stock investments, Vinh said.

Vietnam's benchmark VN Index, a measure of 153 companies on the HCM City stock exchange, has lost 52% this year.

It dropped 2.8% to close at 457.88 Tuesday, the biggest decline since March 25.

Bao Viet has 45 million shares outstanding, with a market value of 2 trillion dong (US$119.6 million), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The stock lost 1,800 dong, or 3.9%, to close at 44,500 dong, the lowest since July 14.

Bao Viet shares have tumbled 79% this year.

Bao Viet Securities is Vietnam's third-biggest publicly traded brokerage by number of customers according to the 2007 annual repor of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchang (HOSE).

The company had 28,413 accounts by the end of last year, the report said.