South Korean investment fund offloads 8 pct stake in Coteccons

By Phuong Dong August 13, 2019 | 12:35 am PT

Coteccons was the main contractor for Ho Chi Minh City's Landmark 81 (middle), the highest building in Vietnam. Photo by Shutterstock/David Bokuchava.

Korea Investment Management sold most of its stake in construction giant Coteccons after a third straight quarter of declining profits.

On Monday spokespersons of five of its subsidiaries announced they had sold 6.31 million shares in Coteccons and were no longer a major shareholder. The fund’s holdings have shrunk from 10.31 percent to 2.05 percent following the sale on August 6.

Coteccons reported a second quarter pre-tax profit of VND156 billion ($6.72 million), down 71 percent year-on-year, the third consecutive quarterly decline and the lowest profit figure in the last four years.

Since 2018 the rising cost of construction materials and increasing competition have squeezed margins, the company management explained in the latest half-yearly report.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the company’s shares closed Monday 3.1 percent down at VND102,000 ($4.4), down 36.3 percent from VND160,000 ($6.9) at the beginning of this year and down 55.7 percent from its VND230,000 ($9.9) peak in early 2018.

Korea Investment Management entered Vietnam in 2006, and has stakes in blue chips such as Vinamilk, Vietnam’s biggest dairy company, and steel giant Hoa Phat.