Investors not enthused by port IPOs

At Da Nang Port's IPO yesterday, only nearly 19.6 per cent of more than 8.3 million shares put on auction were sold to 80 investors at an average price ofVND11.401 (US$0.54) per share. Da Nang Port raised VND18.6 billion ($885,000) through its IPO. — Photo NDH

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — A large part of the shares of State-owned sea ports could not find buyers at the ports' initial public offerings (IPOs).

Three other ports of the Viet Nam National Shipping Lines including Hai Phong, Nha Trang and Quang Ninh ports also implemented IPOs last month, and about 65 per cent of shares put on auction of the three ports remained unsold.

The unsold shares were worth around VND356 billion ($16.9 million).

At Nha Trang Port's IPO, only 350,800 shares, accounting for 6 per cent, were sold to 47 individual investors.

Quang Ninh Port also saw more than 92 per cent of its shares unsold at its IPO.

Hai Phong had the most successful rate at IPOs among these ports, with a modest 46.95 per cent of shares on auction, sold, and raised VND238 billion ($11.3 million).

According to Bui Quang Dao, director of Quang Ninh Port, quoted by VnExpress news website, the number of investors having interests in port shares was limited while many ports implemented IPOs at the same time and in a hurry.

Declining profits also made port shares unappealing to investors. Nha Trang Ports saw its after-tax profit falling from VND1.8 billion ($85,000) in 2012 to VND752 million ($35,800) last year. The profit of Quang Ninh Port declined to VND1.5 billion ($71,000) last year from VND6.1 billion ($290,000) in 2012.

Dao said that the high stakes of the State in these companies after the IPO, at 75 per cent, also made investors wary about buying port shares.

Port analyst of Ban Viet Securties Nguyen Hong Quang said that recent port IPOs were not so successful due to their failure to attract attention of foreign investors or strategic partners. —VNS