Forbes Vietnam on Tuesday announced Vietnam’s 50 top listed companies for 2018, which account for 70.8 per cent of total market capitalisation on the HCM and Ha Noi stock exchanges.

The 50 listed companies on the two stock exchanges have recorded a combined total profit of nearly VND107 trillion (US$4.75 billion), a yearly increase of 34 per cent. Forbes Vietnam in 2017 reported the figure at VND79.4 trillion.

The firms listed with the highest revenue was the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) with VND153.7 trillion worth of revenue, while Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) tops the list in terms of post-tax profit, posting VND10.3 trillion.

Property developer Vingroup is the largest company by market capitalisation, according to Forbes Vietnam, with its market value reaching $15 billion on May 15.

Financial-banking, real estate, retail and consumer companies account for a large proportion of the market value, notably companies such as Vietinbank, Vietcombank, insurer Bao Viet Holdings, digital retailer Mobile World Investment Corporation and food and beverage producer Masan Group.

The HCM Stock Exchange dominates the 50-best-listed-firm list with 47 companies while the Ha Noi Stock Exchange has just three. Compared to last year, there were 10 changes in the list with seven making their first entries, including VPBank, Viet Capital Securities and Southern Basic Chemicals JSC.

“Forbes Vietnam’s sixth list of top companies in Viet Nam reflects the movement of the Vietnamese economy and the securities market in the last year,” said Nguyen Lan Anh, editor of the Forbes Vietnam magazine.

“Positive conditions of the financial market have increased the number of well-performing financial-securities firms, followed by some other key industries such as property development and logistics,” she said.

In the past 12 months, the Vietnamese stock market has made some significant achievements despite recent volatile weeks. The benchmark VN Index set its new historical high of 1,204 points in early April and the derivatives market also operated officially after having been delayed for a while.

In addition, the State’s divestment from some large-cap firms like dairy producer Vinamilk and brewer Sabeco beat analysts’ expectations and the listing of large-cap private companies like Vinhomes, Vincom Retail and Techcombank has boosted the total market value.

By mid-May, the total market value of the Vietnamese stock market reached $168 billion, equal to 80 per cent of Viet Nam’s gross domestic product (GDP). That excludes the market value of the high-end property developer Vinhomes, which debuted on the HCM Stock Exchange on May 17 and has a market value of $13 billion.

Forbes Vietnam applies company ranking methods of Forbes (an American Business Magazine), taking into consideration the characteristics of the businesses listed in Vietnam. The assessment is based on the financial statements audited for five consecutive years from 2013 to 2017. Forbes considered all the listed shares and arranged them by each sector group.

The list has been compiled to provide information on companies with outstanding business results and high profits for investors. Besides this, it is also to honour and encourage the spirit entrepreneurialism. — VNS