The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange lost more than 9 per cent after eight declining sessions in a row, falling from 614.53 points on August 11 to 566.69 points yesterday. — Photo laodong

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The two-month rally in the Vietnamese stock market from mid-May to mid-July made a fortune for many of the country's wealthiest, but the recent steep falls in the market has taken much of it away.

Vietnamese shares gained almost 21 per cent during the mid-year rally, reaching a peak at nearly 640 points on July 14, but gradually declined from late July.

China's surprise currency devaluations over three consecutive days from August 11 had negative impacts on a global scale. Viet Nam's stock market also went into a downtrend spiral.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange lost more than 9 per cent after eight declining sessions in a row, falling from 614.53 points on August 11 to 566.69 points yesterday.

This wiped out an estimated VND85.3 trillion (US$3.8 billion).

The gauge has dived 11.5 per cent since the peak of nearly 640 points in mid-July.

The third devaluation by the State Bank of Viet Nam this year and the second expansion of the dong's trading band in just one week gave investors more headaches.

Although the central bank's move was widely expected to diminish negative impacts of the fall of the yuan, the dong devaluation will probably increase upward pressure on inflation and national debt.

The wealthy, whose fortunes are closely tied to the stock market were hit hard. The biggest victim lost more than VND1.5 trillion ($67 million) from August 11-20.

Vietnamese property tycoon Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of VinGroup (VIC), saw his wealth decrease by almost VND1.54 trillion during the period after the price of VIC declined 6.7 per cent from VND43,500 ($1.94) to VND40,600 ($1.81) a share yesterday.

Vuong holds 532 million shares in VinGroup, about 29 per cent of the company's charter capital. The 47-year-old is the only entry in Forbes' annual ranking of global billionaire released in March 2015. It said he had a net worth of $1.7 billion.

Tran Dinh Long, chairman of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, was the second biggest victim of the market crash. He lost VND612 billion ($27.3 million).

Long is holding more than 180 million HPG shares, but the price dropped almost 10 per cent in nearly two weeks - from VND34,500 ($1.54) to VND31,100 ($1.39). His wife, Vu Thi Hien, who has more than 53 million shares in the company, lost VND180 billion ($8 million).

Shares of seafood producer Hung Vuong Corp (HVG) tumbled 13.2 per cent, from VND19,700 last Tuesday to VND17,100 yesterday. This cost its chairman, Duong Ngoc Minh, nearly VND185 billion ($8.3 million). Minh owns about 71 million shares worth more than VND1.2 trillion ($53.6 million).

HVG is the second biggest seafood exporter in the stock market with a market cap of VND3.24 trillion ($14.5 million).

Do Huu Ha, chairman of Hoang Huy Investment Services Corp (HHS), saw his fortune fall by VND67.5 billion ($3 million) when the price of his shares lost 12.3 per cent in value. His wife and son, who hold more than 13 million HHS shares, also lost about VND35 billion ($1.6 million) during the market crash. HHS is the biggest auto dealer in the stock market with a market capitalization of VND2.13 trillion ($95.1 million).

Another real estate tycoon, Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of Kinh Bac City Development Holding (KBC), lost about VND132 billion (nearly $6 million) when the company's shares slumped 14 per cent.

Tam holds more than 60 million KBC shares, or 12.83 per cent of the company's stakes. — VNS