“The Powerhouse Duo: VPBank and VPS’s IPO Ambitions”

VPS: The Brokerage “King”

Joint Stock Company Securities VPS (VPS) has just approved the convening of the 2025 Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, expected to be held in October 2025 in the form of a direct meeting.

Some sources also revealed that the main content of this VPS meeting is the plan for the initial public offering (IPO), expected to take place in late 2025.

Established in 2006, VPS Securities was formerly known as Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank Securities Company (VPBS), a subsidiary of VPBank.

However, in December 2015, VPBank sold 89% of its capital in VPBS. By 2018, VPBS changed its name to VPS Securities Joint Stock Company (VPS) and simultaneously shifted its business focus. Instead of concentrating on proprietary investment, VPS boosted brokerage services and margin lending. As a result, the company became the market leader in brokerage market share in Q1 2021.

Since then, for 18 consecutive quarters, VPS has maintained its number one position in the securities brokerage market share across four rankings: HoSE, HNX, UPCoM, and derivatives.

In Q2 2025, VPS continued to lead the market, recording a 15.37% market share on the HoSE, 18.82% on the HNX, 16.57% on the UPCoM, and 46.39% for derivatives.

In recent years, VPS has also been among the leaders in profitability in the securities industry. In the first half of 2025, VPS recorded VND 3,192 billion in operating revenue, slightly lower than the same period last year.

Of this, brokerage revenue contributed VND 1,327 billion, down 28% year-on-year due to a narrower brokerage market share. Lending activities contributed VND 1,033 billion, up 21% year-on-year. Profit from financial assets reached VND 483 billion, up 30%. Profit from HTM investments increased by 148% to VND 265 billion.

Thanks to a 26% optimization of operating expenses to VND 1,026 billion, pre-tax and after-tax profits in the first half of 2025 were VND 1,285 billion and VND 1,027 billion, respectively, both up 40% over the same period last year.

As of June 30, 2025, VPS’s total assets were recorded at VND 32,138 billion, up 5.8% from the beginning of the year.

In terms of asset fluctuations, cash and cash equivalents soared from VND 1,732 billion to VND 5,154 billion. Term deposits over three months recorded VND 6,000 billion, an increase of VND 1,200 billion compared to the first quarter.

Loan balances increased by more than VND 4,900 billion in six months to VND 17,436 billion, mainly in margin lending.

Notably, the fair value of financial assets (FVTPL) decreased sharply from VND 8,092 billion to VND 2,499 billion. This decline resulted from a reduction in market instrument investments from VND 6,953 billion to VND 600 billion.

Meanwhile, listed bonds maintained a proportion of over VND 1,500 billion, and unlisted bond investments of more than VND 300 billion were also made.

In terms of capital sources, VPS’s total liabilities were recorded at VND 19,337 billion, an increase of VND 300 billion compared to the beginning of the year. Short-term borrowings decreased by 26% year-on-year to over VND 13,400 billion. In contrast, long-term borrowings increased.

VPS’s borrowings exceeded VND 13,500 billion, almost entirely in the short term, down 26% year-on-year. Conversely, long-term liabilities surged due to a VND 5,000 billion, 24-month bond issue on March 3, 2025.

VPBankS: Building on the Foundation of its Parent Bank

Meanwhile, VPBank Securities Joint Stock Company (VPBankS) has finalized its shareholder list as of August 28 to collect shareholder opinions in writing. The collection of shareholder opinions will take place from August 28 to September 8, with opinion synthesis and voting taking place on September 9.

VPBankS has not yet disclosed the specific content of the shareholder approval request, but according to some sources, an important content to be considered for approval is the IPO plan in the last quarter of 2025.

Bloomberg reported that VPBank is preparing for the initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary, VPBankS. This could happen in November, but details about the size and timing are still under discussion and subject to change.

According to Reuters, VPBank may proceed with a 10% stake sale in VPBankS in this IPO. VPBankS currently has a charter capital of VND 15,000 billion (USD 570 million).

The company also announced positive financial results, with a pre-tax profit of nearly VND 900 billion in the first six months of 2025, up 80% from the same period last year and achieving 45% of the full-year plan.

During this period, operating revenue reached VND 1,885 billion, up 58% year-on-year. The main driver was profit from financial assets (FVTPL), which reached VND 1,058 billion, up 94% year-on-year; profit from loans and receivables was VND 646 billion, up 38%; and financial advisory revenue increased significantly from VND 4 billion to VND 104 billion.

While revenue increased, operating expenses for the period were reduced by 15% to less than VND 400 billion.

As of the end of Q2 2025, VPBankS’s total assets exceeded VND 50,901 billion, a significant increase from the nearly VND 26,714 billion at the beginning of the year.

Of this, cash and cash equivalents increased from over VND 2,313 billion to over VND 14,773 billion, and financial assets (FVTPL) increased from nearly VND 12,538 billion to nearly VND 15,204 billion, mainly due to the fair value of unlisted bonds and stocks.

The company also boosted lending activities, increasing from over VND 9,513 billion to nearly VND 17,758 billion, mainly in margin lending.

To finance this surge in asset size, VPBankS also increased its short-term borrowings from nearly VND 9,135 billion to nearly VND 32,202 billion. Most of this was bank borrowing, while borrowing from individuals and other organizations accounted for VND 10,230 billion.