Assets of Vietnam’s billionaires drop as stock prices fall

Asset values drop

Closing the year-end trading session on December 30 the Vietnam-Index lost 2.2 points to 1,007.09 points, while HNX-Index (Hanoi Stock Exchange – HNX) decreased by 1.23 points to 205.31 points and UpCom Index decreased slightly to 70.83 points. The liquidity fell to VND7.7 trillion on three bourses, including VND6.733 trillion on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE).

The VN Index dropped by 34% in 2022, from the peak of 1,525.58 points at the first trading session to 1,007.09 points.

The stock market’s fluctuations led to huge changes in the positions of Vietnamese billionaires. In 2022, Vuong lost US$2.1 billion, according to Forbes, but he still stood at No 1 position while Novaland’s Nhon was excluded from the list. Hoa Phat Group’s Chair Tran Dinh Long lost US$1.7 billion to rank fourth in the list, with US$1.5 billion.

According to Forbes, by January 1, 2023, Vietnam had six dollar billionaires instead of seven as seen in March 2022 rankings, namely:  Pham Nhat Vuong, president of Vingroup, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of Vietjet, Ho Hung Anh, president of Techcombank, Tran Dinh Long, president of Hoa Phat Group, Tran Ba Duong, the owner of Thaco, the automobile manufacturer, and family members, and Nguyen Dang Quang, president of Masan.

As of January 1, 2023, the six billionaires and Nhon had total assets of US$13 billion, lower than the US$21.2 billion reported in March 2022. Nhon’s assets decreased by US$2.3 billion, while Long lost US$1.7 billion and Thao US$800 million. Duong and his family lost the least money, VND100 million, as his enterprise still has not listed on the bourse.

Nhon’s NVL share price dropped from VND90,000 per share to VND14,000. He left the list of billionaires on November 18, 2022 after NLV share prices fell. Earlier, in March 2022, his asset value was US$2.9 billion as reported by Forbes.

Nhon’s family members, before restructuring, held 60% of Novaland’s capital. NLV share prices fell to floor prices for 17 consecutive trading sessions and the forced selling occurred with tens of millions of shares owned by the Nhon family. Earlier, Nhon transferred all NVL shares to his family’s enterprise – NovaGroup. Novagroup later sold a part of 150 million NLV to restructure Novaland.

VinFast to have IPO in the US

According to Bloomberg, VinFast, the automobile manufacturer of Vingroup, plans to have an IPO (initial public offering) in January 2023 to mobilize US$1 billion capital.

VinFast Trading & Investment Pte Ltd, the subsidiary located in Singapore, filed for an IPO to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April 2022 after VinFast announced a plan to spend US$4 billion to build a factory in the US.

Vingroup’s Vuong has assets  that increased by $3.8 billion on November 11, 2022 to US$41 billion by the end of 2022. He is now ranked the 669th among the world's richest billionaires thanks to the recovery of VIC shares. 

It is estimated that if the IPO succeeds with the valuation of US$60 billion, Vuong would have US$26 billion more, and his total assets would surge to over US$30 billion.

Bad year for realtors

The assets of Nguyen Van Dat, president of Phat Dat Real Estate (PDR), dropped by VND20 trillion over the last year as PDR price fell from VND70,000 in early 2022 to VND13,600.

In 2021, PDR prices increased sharply amid the good performance of the stock market and good business results of the enterprise, thus helping Dat’s assets soar to VND28 trillion in the year, or US$1.2 billion. However, Dat was not found in Forbes’ list.

Do Tuan Anh, an emerging billionaire, president of Sunshine Group and many subsidiaries, has also seen assets ‘evaporate’ by trillions of VND. By the end of 2022, his assets had reached VND28.9 trillion (US$1.2 billion), lower than the VND43 trillion (US$1.9 billion) in mid-2022.

He now owns many shares of real estate firms and banks, including KLB, KSF, SCG, and Sunshine Homes.