SCIC finds 46 million FPT shares unmarketable

SCIC was unable to divest 46 million FPT shares

According to information published by the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, between early July and August 6, 2020, no investors registered or placed a deposit to buy FPT shares.

Previously, in early July, SCIC announced putting 46 million FPT shares on sale via an auction with the initial price of VND49,400 ($2.15), equaling a total of VND2.3 trillion ($100 million). The offered price is higher than the current transaction price of VND47,000 ($2.04). The shares are not available for foreign investors because FPT has hit the foreign ownership limit (FOL).

At present, the FOL at FPT is 49 per cent, including Macquarie Bank Limited with 5.37 per cent, Red River Holdings (3.43 per cent), GIC (2 per cent), and investment groups relating to Dragon Capital (9 per cent).

FPT reported VND13.61trillion ($591.74 million) in revenue and VND2.42 trillion ($105.22 million) in pre-tax profit in the first six months of this year, signifying increases of 9 and 14 per cent on-year.

FPT is one of the top 10 most valuable brands in Vietnam 2020, according to Forbes Vietnam magazine.

FPT is the largest IT company in Vietnam. The core business lines of the company include three main sectors: IT, telecommunications, and education. It undertakes software development for many foreign clients, with half of its orders coming from Japan. The company went public on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange in 2006.

The group is looking like the clear favourite to develop the central province of Binh Dinh’s ambitious AI hub, which is planned to turn the province into a regional and global powerhouse in AI development.

In addition, FPT is operating a number of projects on AI and high-tech education in the province. These initiatives are said to position the group favourably to be selected as the developer of this particular centre, which is planned to be built on a large golden location at the centre of Quy Nhon city.

In September 2018, Taiwan’s Synnex Technology International Corporation bought 30 per cent of the shares of FPT Retail and 47 per cent of the shares of FPT Trading from FPT Corporation.