A Hoa Phat steel factory. — Photo VNA/VNS Photo

A group of investment funds run by Dragon Capital said on Monday it has sold 800,000 shares of steel giant Hoa Phat Group (HPG) to reduce its holdings to about 198.15 million shares, or 5.98 per cent.

The transaction date was May 19.

The funds that sold HPG shares were CTBC Vietnam Equity Fund selling 650,000 shares, DC Developing Markets Strategies Public Limited Company, 100,000 shares, and KB Vietnam Focus Balanced Fund, 50,000 shares.

At the beginning of April, this group bought 1.2 million HPG shares to increase the volume from 198.7 million to 199.92 million shares, equivalent to an increase of 5.99 per cent to 6.03 per cent of ownership.

HPG shares in the past three months have increased sharply from VND46,000 (US$1.99) per share to VND65,600 per share, equivalent to an increase of 42 per cent.

Based on the current price range, Dragon Capital group has collected about VND52.5 billion after selling 800,000 shares and currently holds a volume of HPG stock worth VND13 trillion.

HPG's gain was supported by positive business results in the first quarter. The corporate revenue reached VND31.18 trillion, up 62 per cent. Profit after tax was VND7 trillion, thee times higher than the same period last year.

Regarding sales of steel products, in the first four months of this year, the enterprise sold 2.66 million tonnes of billet, finished construction steel and hot-rolled coil (HRC).

Construction steel alone reached 1.28 million tonnes, up 28 per cent. Export output of square billet reached 507,000 tonnes, up slightly over the same period last year.

Sales of hot rolled coil reached 878,000 tonnes. Steel pipes and galvanised steel also grew well, reaching 271,000 tonnes and 93,000 tonnes, respectively, up 32 per cent and 2.6 times over the same period last year, respectively. — VNS