Thai rope manufacturer awaits listing on May 16

The listing followed the company’s initial public offering in November 2016, when the company sold 4.2 million shares.

Accordingly, 20.54 million SBV shares are going to have an initial reference price of VND 40,000 ($1.76), equal to the price proposed by the listing consultancy Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC). On the first trading day, the price of the stock is allowed to fluctuate in the range of +/-20 per cent.

Before becoming a joint-stock company, SBV was a wholly-owned Thai company specialising in manufacturing rope and nets used for fishing, maritime transportation in the industrial and agricultural sectors.

At the moment, the company has a chartered capital of VND205.4 billion ($9 million) of which the Thai founding shareholders hold 75 per cent and individual and institutional investors hold 25 per cent. Of the latter, Vietnam Holding Ltd. is the most significant, holding 10 per cent.

Over the past 20 years of development in Vietnam, SBV has conquered the market with its durable products. Though the company products’ prices are higher than competitors’, it still dominates the domestic market with a share of over 40 per cent of ropes used in agriculture, fishing, and maritime safety and its specialised rope products are the top choice for 90 per cent of offshore fishing boats.

With the advantage of market domination, SBV has maintained stable growth with a compound annual growth rate of 13.42 per cent in revenue and 18.7 per cent in net profit in the past five years. In 2016, the company earned a revenue of VND508 billion ($22.34 million) and net profit of VND113.89 billion ($5 million), up 38.6 per cent on-year thanks to the decrease of material prices and the company’s successful cost-cutting policies. This helped SBV achieve an earnings per share (EPS) of VND6,110 (27 US cent).

The shareholders agreed on a cash dividend of VND2,000 (9 US cents) for 2016 at the recent shareholders’ meeting.

In 2017, the company expects a revenue of VND601 billion ($26.4 million) and pre-tax profit of VND149 billion ($6.55 million), banking on the increasing demand for its products.

The company is also developing some new products to take advantage of the growth of the seafood and agricultural sectors. In the first quarter of 2017, the company reported a revenue of VND100.3 billion ($4.4 million) and net profit of VND11.7 billion ($514,570), increases of 28 and 14.7 per cent on-year, despite this being slowest quarter of the year.