BIDV Securities Corporation (BSC) reported a loss of VND10 billion (US$448,500) in the fourth quarter of 2018, marking its first quarterly loss in six years.

The firm recorded a VND26 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The company posted VND159 billion in fourth-quarter revenue in 2018, down slightly from VND165 billion in 2017.

Its expenses rose 192 per cent year-on-year to VND153.5 billion, of which fair value through the statement of profit or loss (FVTPL) increased 4.6 times year-on-year to VND116.4 billion.

In 2018, BSC increased its total revenue by 15.6 per cent year on year to VND238.5 billion and raised total post-tax profit by 15 per cent to VND193.5 billion.

BSC attributed its 2018 performance to the volatility of the equity market, which beat earlier forecasts.

The benchmark VN Index hit a record high of 1,204.33 points on April 9 but lost 26 per cent to finish 2018 at 892.54 points.

Market trading liquidity was also lower as investors were not confident in the context of geopolitical tensions and trade disputes, BSC said in its report.

In 2018, the company recorded more than 110,400 trading accounts, up 7 per cent from the beginning of the year. Only 23.44 per cent of all its accounts were active during the year, equal to nearly 25,900.

The number of domestic individual accounts was more than 108,000, accounting for 95 per cent of the total.

BSC has listed nearly 111 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. Its shares ended flat at VND9,200 ($0.40) on Tuesday after dropping 5.2 per cent on Monday. — VNS