KSB specialises in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, besides nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying. — Photo the courtesy of the company

Finland-based Evli Emerging Frontier Fund announced on Wednesday it purchased more 500,000 shares of Binh Duong Mineral and Construction Joint Stock Company (KSB) early this month.

After the purchase, the Finnish fund has become one of KSB’s major shareholders with 2.5 million shares, equivalent to 5.43 per cent of the company’s capital.

The fund is owned by Evli Fund Management Company, a Nordic fund management company founded in 1985. This fund management company is fully owned by Evli Bank, a Finnish bank which manages assets of 12.2 billion euros.

Evli Emerging Frontier was introduced in October 2013, focusing on investing in fast-growing economies. As of the end of August, the fund's portfolio size topped 61 million euros.

Viet Nam is the third-largest market in its portfolio with 18 per cent of the proportion.

KSB specialises in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, besides nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying. The company reported revenue up 18 per cent to VND694 billion (USA$29.8 million) in the first half of this year and post-tax profit increased 4 per cent to VND159 billion.

Its Tan Dong Hiep quarry, which contributed the largest proportion of 30 per cent of revenue in 2019, will expire at the end of this year. The company plans to increase the exploitation capacity of quarries of Phuoc Vinh, Tan My and Thang Long.

KSB hopes to expand Phuoc Vinh mine and to invest in a building materials company in the southern province of Dong Nai. The exploitation scale of this company remains at 250 million tonnes of stone, many times higher than KSB's current scale.

KSB shares are now traded at around VND30,600 per share on the stock market, doubling from April. Temporarily calculated at this price, the number of KSB shares held by Evli Emerging Frontier has a market value of VND77 billion. — VNS