Vietnam gets new debt trading company

By Phuong Dong, Minh Huong   August 28, 2018 | 11:30 pm PT
Vietnam gets new debt trading company
Beverage tycoon Tran Qui Thanh and his two daughters. Photo acquired by VnExpress
The two daughters of beverage tycoon Tran Qui Thanh have set up a debt trading company.

According to the National Business Registration Portal, VNAMC has been set up with an initial charter capital of VND100 billion ($4.4 million) for the purpose of debt trading and debt trading brokerage and consulting, with Tran Ngoc Bich and Tran Uyen Phuong owning a 50 percent stake each.

The two also serve as vice presidents of their father’s Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group, Vietnam's largest domestic private soft drinks company.

Bich is in charge of the group’s production management while Phuong is responsible for its marketing, public relations, and CSR programs.

Observers said the establishment of VNAMC might be related to the entry of Tan Hiep Phat in realty industry.

With the debt trading firm, Tan Hiep Phat can buy properties mortgaged by borrowing companies to enlarge its land fund, they said.  

Thanh recently bought more than 550,000 shares, equivalent to a 1.2 percent stake, in Saigon Real Estate Joint Stock Company.

Founded in 1994, Tan Hiep Phat is one of Vietnam’s top fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and owns three of the country’s leading soft drink brands: Zero Degrees ready-to-drink tea, Dr Thanh Herbal Tea and energy drink Number 1.

Its profit increased from $42.9 million in 2016 to $69.5 million last year. 

Debt trading is a relatively new business in Vietnam despite the banking system’s huge pile of bad debts, and there is no secondary market for trading yet.

On August 28 the State Bank of Vietnam reported that local banks’ bad debts were 6.6-6.7 percent, down from over 10 percent last year.

The Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), a state-owned debt trading firm, buys bad debts from banks by issuing special bonds in return.

Its chairman, Nguyen Tien Dong, said since its establishment in 2013 the firm has recovered VND100 trillion ($4.44 billion) worth of bad debts out of a total of VND280 trillion ($12.4 billion) it bought from credit institutions.

 
 
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