Foreign investors flocked to Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) during yesterday’s trading session (20/2) as it witnessed a surge in buying activity.
In particular, foreign investors bought 16.4 million MSB shares while selling only 1.3 million shares, equivalent to a net buying of 15 million shares, valued at VND 233 billion. Most of these shares were traded via negotiated transactions. This marks the 6th consecutive net buying session for foreign investors in MSB shares.
This strong accumulation trend by foreign investors began on February 15. During the session on February 15, foreign investors had net bought over 8 million MSB shares, worth VND 122 billion. Since February 15, foreign investors have net bought a total of over 24.8 million MSB shares, with a total transaction value of VND 379 billion.
This development occurred when the previously “closed” MSB foreign room unexpectedly opened up tens of millions of shares from the previous week.
According to data from the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, as of the beginning of the morning session on February 7, 2024, the number of shares held by foreign investors in MSB (foreign room) was 599.7 million shares, equivalent to a 29.99% ownership ratio, just below the ceiling of the foreign room limit imposed by the State Bank of Vietnam (30% or 600 million shares). However, after the Lunar New Year holiday (February 8-14), at the beginning of the session on February 15, the foreign room of the bank decreased to 27.09%, corresponding to the number of shares held by foreign investors which was 541.8 million shares. Accordingly, the additional number of shares held by foreign investors is 58.2 million shares. Based on the closing price on February 15, these shares are valued at VND 875 billion.
The ownership ratio of foreign investors in MSB unexpectedly decreased by nearly 3% after the Lunar New Year holiday, despite no significant selling activity previously. The first five trading sessions of February (1-7/2) also recorded very low transaction values from foreign investors, at less than VND 4 billion per session.
This development is also surprising as for many years, the ownership ratio of foreign investors in MSB has always been recorded below 30%, continuously “closing” the foreign room until a big change occurred from February 15 onwards, as previously mentioned.
After continuous net buying from February 15 to the end of February 20, the ownership of foreign investors in MSB reached over 567 million shares, equivalent to a 28.41% ownership ratio. Accordingly, foreign investors are allowed to hold an additional more than 31 million MSB shares.
Accompanying this development, MSB’s stock price has also continuously increased since the beginning of February. From February 2 to the present, MSB has not recorded any session closing in the red. At the end of February 20, MSB’s stock price reached VND 15,600 per share, up nearly 15% compared to the end of January.
MSB’s liquidity has also increased significantly recently. Especially during the session on February 15, when the foreign room unexpectedly opened, MSB witnessed a record trading value of VND 524 billion.
MSB is currently a mid-sized bank with a charter capital of VND 20,000 billion, listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE). Its market capitalization is over VND 31,000 billion. The bank has a large shareholder with an ownership of over 5%, which is the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, owning nearly 121 million shares, equivalent to a 6.05% stake.
In terms of business results, MSB has achieved relatively positive results in 2023. As of December 31, 2023, MSB’s total assets reached over VND 267 thousand billion, an increase of 25% compared to 2022. Credit growth reached 22.43%, belonging to the highest group in the industry. MSB’s pre-tax profit for 2023 was VND 5,830 billion, an increase of 0.7% compared to 2022.
