VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly all the state owned economic groups
and general corporations have received orders from the Prime Minister on the
procedure and deadline to implement the capital withdrawal from non-core
business fields. However, they fear they cannot fulfill the duty on schedule.
The Prime Minister has approved
the capital withdrawal plan by Vinachem, the chemical economic group. Under the
plan, it would have to withdraw all the capital from 13 enterprises, including
the big names like the insurer Bao Minh.
Like many other “big guys,”
Vinachem also poured money into a finance and a securities company, which was
“in fashion” some years ago.
An ultimatum has been released to
Vinachem that it must complete the capital withdrawal process no later than the
end of 2015.
However, a senior executive of
Vinachem said on Dau tu that it is not easy to follow the capital withdrawal
roadmap set up by the government, since the current stock market performance
does not support the capital withdrawal.
“We have to race against the
clock to fulfill the duty on schedule. And we have to ensure that our shares
can be sold at the highest possible prices to preserve the state’s capital.
“Though Vinachem’s investment
capital in non-core business fields just accounts for only three percent of the
total investment capital, we think we still need to report our case to the
Prime Minister for instructions,” he said.
A similar proposal has also been
made by General Director of the Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) Truong
Thanh Phong.
“We have our capital withdrawal
capital plan approved already. In fact, our investment capital in non-food
business fields is modest, just accounting for one percent of the total
investment capital. Therefore, we would like to follow a reasonable time
schedule to ensure the highest possible efficiency,” Phong said.
Phong, like the other heads of
state owned economic groups and general corporations, fear that if they are
forced to speed up the capital withdrawal process, they would have to sell
stakes in hurry at low prices, which would lead to the loss of the state’s
capital, for which they would have to take responsibility.
It is understandable that the
heads of the enterprises don’t want to be urged to sell stakes, because in the
context of the current gloomy stock market, it is clear that the shares would
not go for good prices.
The one percent of capital
Vinafood 2 has to withdraw has been poured into 18 enterprises in many business
fields, from finance & banking to insurance, from tourism to sea transport.
Though Phong did not mention the
share prices, it’s clearly impossible to sell the shares at the same prices at
which state owned groups bought some years ago to break even. The share prices
would depend on the health of enterprises and the market demand, not on the
enterprises’ willing or the book values.
“Will we be able to sell stakes
if the buyers only pay the prices much lower than the book values?” questioned
Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Chair of Vinaconex.
Phuong went on to say that it’s
nearly impossible to require the same prices of the stakes enterprises bought
some years ago, when the stock prices were all sky high in a scorching hot
market.
“We have suggested that stakes
should be sold at the market prices to ensure the healthy cash flow,” Phuong
said.
Regarding the potential buyers,
Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam has reported that the State Capital Investment
Corporation (SCIC), a powerful state owned group which specializes in making
investment with the state’s money, is considering buying the stakes to be sold
by the SOEs which have been forced to withdraw capital.
By the end of 2012, the
stockholder equity of SCIC had reached VND27.7trillion dong. One dollar is
equal to VND21,000.
Compiled by C. V
Business & Investment Opportunities
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