In early March, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) announced it would auction 6.8 million shares of VNB, equivalent to 10% of the capital of Vietnam Books Joint Stock Company. The starting price is 15,700 VND per share, equivalent to a total lot of 106.6 billion VND. Currently, SCIC is only the second largest shareholder of this company.
Immediately after the announcement, by March 11th, VNB shares had increased by 32.3% compared to the beginning of the month, reaching a price of 13,100 VND per share. Trading volume has also soared, from just tens of thousands of units matched per session to hundreds of thousands to millions of units.
Vietnam Books Joint Stock Company was established in the 1950s and has gone through over 60 years of development and various name changes. The predecessor of the company was the Central Publishing House, which was separated from the National Printing House in 1956, then renamed the Central State Publishing Company in 1960, and merged with the Book Import-Export Company to establish the Books Publishing Corporation in 1978.
After several changes, in April 2016, Vietnam Books officially operated as a joint stock company and was registered for trading on the UPCoM market three months later. The company has a charter capital of 679 billion VND, equivalent to 67.9 million outstanding shares.
Prior to the IPO, Vietnam Books had a strategic cooperation with Vingroup (HoSE: VIC), choosing Vingroup as the strategic investor in the offering of over 44 million shares, equivalent to 65% of Vietnam Books’ charter capital.
The transaction was carried out through direct negotiation. With a starting price for negotiations of 10,700 VND per share, Vingroup may have had to spend about 472 billion VND to become the parent company of Vietnam Books.
Vietnam Books is currently leasing and managing many prime land areas in Hanoi: 44 Trang Tien, 50A Hang Bai, 22A and 22B Hai Ba Trung (Hoan Kiem District), 2 Dich Vong (Cau Giay District), Viet Hung Commune (Dong Anh District) with a total area of up to 14,082 m2 for office space and retail stores.
Among them, the lease contracts for land and assets at 22A and 22B Hai Ba Trung, 50A Hang Bai (Hanoi) have expired by the end of 2023 and are being renewed by Savina with state management agencies.
For the 2 plots of land in Dong Anh District and Chua Ha Street (Hanoi), the company is assigned by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in advance and is allowed to continue using them for business activities according to the state’s equitization policy. However, as of the end of the biennial financial report of 2023, Vietnam Books has not yet signed a lease contract with state management agencies for these 2 plots of land.
44A Trang Tien Building.
In terms of business performance, in 2023, Vietnam Books recorded net revenue of over 34 billion VND, with insignificant fluctuations compared to 2022. On the other hand, revenue from financial activities increased nearly 3 times the net sales revenue and service provision revenue, up 58% compared to the same period, reaching over 99 billion VND, mainly from interest income.
The significant income from interest income comes from Vietnam Books granting over 827 billion VND to some businesses with a term of 1 year and an interest rate of 11-12% per year. As a result, the company reported a post-tax profit of 69 billion VND in 2023, up 72% compared to 2022.
