Fruitful first half-year for many business sectors

The steel industry enjoyed a particularly good half-year. Nam Kim Steel managed to triple its second quarter revenues year-on-year to VND7 trillion ($304.74 million) and H1 revenues to VND11.9 trillion.

A sharp rise in output helped the firm reduce per unit production costs, improve gross profit margin and grow its net profit 50-fold year-on-year to nearly VND1.17 trillion for the first half, or almost twice its full-year target. It was the first time its profits topped the trillion-dong mark.

With a similar sharp increase in output, Hoa Sen Group achieved an estimated Q2 revenue of VND13 trillion and post-tax profit of VND1.7 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 90 percent and 435 percent respectively.

Within 9 months of the 2020-21 fiscal year stating from last October, HSG achieved almost VND33 trillion in revenue and VND3.4 trillion in net profit. This means the firm has almost reached the annual revenue plan and exceeded the full year profit target by 125 percent.

A record number of almost 620,000 new trading accounts opened in the first half translated into huge profits for a number of securities companies.

VNDirect has announced first half revenues of VND2.15 trillion and pre-tax profits of VND1.14 trillion, or 3 percent more than the full-year target.

Viet Dragon Securities reported revenues of over VND520 billion and pre-tax profits of VND310 billion, the highest since its establishment.

The fertilizer industry benefited from price hikes.

Petrovietnam Camau Fertilizer JSC achieved estimated revenues of nearly VND4.34 trillion and pre-tax profits of 410 billion, 96 percent of its full-year target.

According to statistics from FiinGroup, 12 percent of companies listed on the stock market have published half-yearly results or earnings guidance. The combined revenues of 198 firms are estimated to have risen by 35 percent in Q2 over the same period last year and nearly 20 percent compared to Q1.

The growth was mainly driven by price hikes by utilities and the steel, oil and gas industries. Real estate, construction and materials, chemicals, and information technology reported lower profits.