Total 169 million shares were sold out in 28 auctions of State capital in the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) in 2017, raising total capital of over VND2.6 trillion (US$114.5 million) for the State budget.

The number of auctions for State capital made up 71 per cent of the total number of auctions in 2017.

Auctioners include major State corporations such as the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the Viet Nam National Shipping Line (Vinalines) and Song Da Corporation.

In December alone, some VND949 billion ($41.7 million) was raised through seven auctions of shares held by State-owned enterprises.

More than 365 million shares were put up for sale in the month, 6.9 times higher than November, but only over 50 million shares, equal to 14 per cent of the offered volume, were sold to investors.

Smaller IPO number

Only ten inital public offering (IPOs) were held last year, much lower than the numbers in 2015 (64 IPOs) and 2016 (30 IPOs). The total number of shares sold was over 321 million, accounting for 49 per cent of the total number of shares offered, with a total value of more than VND5 trillion.

Three IPOs with 138 million shares were sold out, collecting more than VND2.3 trillion for the issuers. In particular, the IPO of Viglacera Corporation saw 100 per cent of the shares being sold out, attracting the attention of more than 1,000 investors, the highest since 2015, with 92 per cent of the shares sold to foreign investors.

In January, HNX plans to host 15 auctions with a total volume of 559 million shares. — VNS