The less-optimistic movements of the stock market have negatively impacted the business results of securities firms in the first quarter of the year.

Financial statement reports showed that the securities group, including leading companies, witnessed a sharp decline in profits.

Specifically, VNDirect Securities Corporation reported a plunge of 81.6 per cent year-on-year in profit after tax, from nearly VND762.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to VND140.5 billion in Q1 of 2023.

The securities firm explained the strong fall was due to the negative impact of the general market which caused a 27 per cent decrease in its revenue to VND1.29 trillion.

Of which, revenue from margin lending and brokerage activities of VNDirect dipped by 46.2 per cent and 68.4 per cent on-year, respectively. Meanwhile, revenue from proprietary trading was the only business activity posting an increase of 17.8 per cent to VND782 billion.

On the other hand, the company’s expenses rose by 4.2 per cent over the same period last year to VND629 billion, while loss of proprietary trading increased by VND220.5 billion, or 87.8 per cent, and financial expenses also tripled.

Similarly, Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) and Viet Capital Securities JSC reported strong losses in business results. In the first quarter, SHS’s profit after tax plummeted by 87.6 per cent over last year to VND40.9 billion, while Viet Capital recorded a profit after tax of only VND73 billion, down 82.4 per cent year-on-year.

SSI Securities Corporation also couldn’t escape the downtrend. It reported a decrease of nearly 30 per cent in profit after tax compared to the same period in 2022, to VND480.8 billion from VND684 billion.

Its revenue dropped 26.4 per cent on-year to VND1.43 trillion, of which the company’s proprietary trading revenue rose slightly to VND679.1 billion, but interest from loans and receivables halved to VND338.3 billion. Revenue from brokerage activities also fell by 57.1 per cent to VND257.1 billion.

The first quarter profit after tax of Techcombank Securities JSC (TCBS) and Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC) declined by 64.5 per cent and 56.2 per cent over last year, respectively, to VND333.5 billion and VND123.8 billion dong. Meanwhile, Mirae Asset Securities reported a fall of 54.9 per cent year-on-year in profit after tax to VND128.3 billion due to a 53 per cent drop in profit before tax and a 25.1 per cent decrease in revenue.

Most of the securities companies said that the reason for the decline in profits was due to the volatility and uncertainties of the stock market in the first three months of 2023.

Given the high sensitivity to the market, securities companies’ proprietary trading, brokerage, and margin lending activities suffered strongly as the market was gloomy and investors turned extremely cautious.

Particularly, interest rates are a major factor affecting the market mood. High interest rates caused investors to be worried about the prospect of corporate profits, while the severe decline in global purchasing power affected import and export activities.

Higher interest rates are also a significant barrier to investors' demand for margin loans.

The statistics have not shown many signs of improvement. Outstanding balance slightly increased in the first quarter of this year after plummeting in the fourth quarter of last year to the lowest level in seven quarters. — VNS