Last 12 months, Vietnam overtook Singapore and Thailand to top the list of Southeast Asian countries when it comes to initial public offerings (IPOs), raising $2.6 billion.
According to consulting firm Ernst & Young, this number was 3.7 times higher than in 2017.
Two of the three largest IPOs in Southeast Asia last 12 months were by Vietnamese corporations: $1.34 billion by Vinhomes, a property developer owned by Vietnam’s largest private company, Vingroup; and $923 million by Techcombank, the country’s largest private sector lender.
In contrast, the alternative trend was seen across Southeast Asia, with IPO funding falling 34 percent year-on-year to $7.1 billion.
The variety of public offerings within the region fell 7 percent to 115, with 56 of them raising lower than $10 million.
Ernst & Young economist Max Loh said the decline was on account of US-China trade tensions, which have impacted the capital market within the region as Southeast Asian countries have close trading ties with China.
Experts consider Vietnam has the potential to draw more foreign investment in the longer term. A report by law firm Baker McKenzie and consulting firm Oxford Economics says Vietnam will lead the region when it comes to the sum of money raised through IPOs by 2021.
The rise of Vietnam and other emerging Southeast Asian nations could intensify competition for brand spanking new listings on the region’s stock exchanges, said Tham Tuck Seng, capital markets leader at PwC Singapore.
This will increase the pressure on Singapore to face out much more, CNBC quoted Tham.
Source : VNExpress.net
