VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of securities companies have reportedly left the market, while others are completing necessary procedures to end their operation.

The majority of the 200 securities companies registering their membership on the Hanoi and HCM City bourses have got troubles in recent years. They reportedly incurred big losses and had to stop providing brokerage service. Especially, most of the companies have big chartered capital of over VND100 billion, while one of them was once listed in the top 10 of the companies with the biggest brokerage market shares.

In early 2012, Dong Duong, Hanoi and Truong Son terminated their membership status at the Hanoi and HCM City Stock Exchanges. After that, SME Securities Company made the same move after its managers’ legal scandals.

The companies have not released the 2012 finance reports, but their business performance was surely bad in the year after taking the loss of over VND20 billion in 2011.

After transferring their clients to others, the unprofitable companies have changed their addresses so regularly, while the websites and telephone numbers do not exist anymore, which has made investors feel as if the companies have vanished into the air.

Some securities companies still keep contact with investors, but they are considering getting dissolved after taking heavy loss. Au Viet, for example, though having the big chartered capital of VND360 billion, took profit repeatedly over the last two years. Bearing the accumulative loss of VND151 billion, it has to say goodbye to the securities market after the last shareholders’ meeting held on March 20. Au Viet’s shares have been delisted as well.

The Cho Lon Securities Company with the chartered capital of VND90 billion are following the last formalities before leaving the market. In 2012, the company incurred the loss of VND3.1 billion, while the turnover was surprisingly low at VND8 billion, just equal to 34 percent of the same period of the last year.

Cho Lon’s workforce now comprises of 7 people only, who are members of the board of directors and the board of management.

Sao Viet Securities Company also keeps 7 officers only. By December 31, 2012, the accumulative loss of the company had reached VND92.89 billion, equal to 68 percent of the chartered capital.

The company had to stop providing brokerage service, while auditors have raised suspicions about the company’s capability of operating continuously in the future.

In mid-March 2013, Sao Viet sent a dispatch to the Vietnam Securities Depository Center on the transferring of the securities balance of its clients to FPT Securities Company, which would be implemented in the time to come.

An Phat and Lien Viet have also terminated their membership at the Hanoi and HCM City Stock Exchanges. The latter took profit over the last consecutive years, while the former made a modest profit of VND412 million in 2012 after taking a loss of VND38.7 billion in 2011.

PetroVietnam Securities decided to shut down a series of its branches in 2012 to improve its situation after taking a big loss of VND93 billion in 2011. The move helped it make a modest profit of VND817 million in 2012, even though the turnover decreased in the year.

Ly Thanh Nha, Director of the Cho Lon Branch of Dong A Securities Company, believes that more securities companies would leave the market in 2013.

Securities companies have been living on the brokerage fees and lending to securities investors. However, the brokerage service market is too small which is not enough for all to live on. Meanwhile, the companies nearly don’t have the opportunities for securities trading themselves.

VNE