Listed firms’ profits up 12 pct

The gains were led by the banking and real estate sectors.

Banking (18 lenders) accounted for a third of total profits at VND110.7 trillion ($4.8 billion), up 30 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City-based top brokerage, SSI Securities Corporation. The report attributed the profit surge to banks’ increased lending to individuals.

Real estate followed with VND56.4 trillion ($2.4 billion), up 32 percent.

Communications saw its profits go down 77 percent year-on-year. Other sectors in the red included chemicals, down 38 percent, and financial services, down 21 percent.

The report said data was collected from 962 companies that had published their financial reports as of February 13. They account for 95 percent of market capitalization on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, Hanoi Stock Exchange and UPCoM, an exchange for unlisted public companies.