Real estate, bank share price falls clean out stock millionaires - News VietNamNet

VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of tycoons in the real estate market were listed as the richest stock millionaires in 2007--owing to the big volumes of shares they held. However, their asset values have fallen down sharply also because of the shares.

Mr Dang Thanh Tam

Trillions of dong in the big tycoons’ assets have evaporated since the share prices keep decreasing. A report by VnExpress, which conducted an analysis in the cooperation with VnDirect Securities Company, showed that 100 best money earners can accumulate 7200 billion dong from stock investment, while 100 biggest money losers lost 7950 billion dong from stock trade deals.

The losers are mostly the ones who hold real estate firms’ shares or bank shares which have seen the prices tumble in a very tough year for the two business fields.

The weak VN Index was seen right at the beginning of the year, staying at 350 points. It later exceeded he 400 point threshold sometimes, but then fell down again. The stock market, which has been uncertain in liquidity and interrupted price hike waves, is considered the main reason that has made a lot of big tycoons poorer this year.

Dang Thanh Tam, President of the Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation (KBC), Member of the Board of Directors of Nam Viet Bank (NVB), President of SGT, a telecom technology firm, tops the list of the businessmen who have seen the asset value decreases.

By November 9, 2012, Tam had held KBC, SGT, NVB and ITA (the Tan Tao Joint Stock Company) shares which have seen the prices falling by 40-60 percent in comparison with earlier this year.

Tam did not sell or buy any shares over the last 10 months. However, the volume of ITA has increased because of the dividend of 30 percent.

The stock market price falls plus some troubles occurring with Tam and his family members have made Tam’s assets decrease by 574 billion dong to 820.2 billion dong. With the news, it is very likely that Tam would be excluded from the list of the 2012 top 10 stock millionaires, after five consecutive years of being present.

Nguyen Van Dat, President and CEO of Phat Dat Real Estate Corporation (PDR), proves to be the second biggest money losers to Tam.

Dat listed himself among the richest stock millionaires in the 2010 report with the huge amount of real estate firms’ shares he held at that time, when the real estate was “scorching hot,” and real estate shares were the blue chips.

Dat’s stock assets once outstripped the 2600 billion dong threshold in 2010. However, the asset value has decreased sharply over the last two years, while the 76.8 million PDR shares he is holding now has the value of 930 billion dong only, a decrease of 515 billion dong in comparison with the last year.

The list of the big tycoons who have suffered the asset value decreases includes many other well-known names, such as Nguyen Duc Kien, or mogul Kien, former Member of the founding committee of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan, President and CEO of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai Group, and Tran Hung Huy, President of ACB.

Kien has not carried out any business activities after he was arrested some months ago. However, he is still holding 35.1 million ACB shares. Meanwhile, ACB share price has decreased by 26 percent over the last 10 years, which has made his asset value decrease by 168 billion dong to 524 billion dong.

VNE

How the Rich in Vietnam spend their $$

VietNamNet Bridge – Having private aircraft, possessing islands, traveling in a Rolls & Royce, owning yachts and attracting the media like the portraits of the showbiz world – this is the common portrait of the Vietnamese millionaires.

The villas in West Lake area
Hanoi is the city which has the highest land price in the world, comparable with that in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Paris. Meanwhile, the land price in the West Lake area is considered the most expensive in Hanoi, which is called the golden land.

Leon Lai, a Hong Kong’s actor, could buy a villa with an area of 1000 square meters in Ruby Hill – San Francisco, with swimming pool and golf course, at five million US dollars. 

However, he would not be able to buy a land plot with the same area in Hanoi with the same sum of money. A real estate expert said that the land plots in the area are priced at no less than 40,000 square meters. However, even if accepting the sky high prices, one would still not be able to buy a land plot here, because of no seller.

As such, if Leon Lai wants to live in the West Lake area in Vietnam, with five million dollars, he can only buy a house with the area of 125 square meters.

In the West Lake area, there are the villas with hundreds of square meters in area, which have the sky high and logically enigmatic prices.

There is also a golden land area in HCM City – the Dong Khoi area in district 1. However, the land plots here have been reserved to do business, not for accommodation. Therefore, the West Lake area is considered the most wonderful area for people to live.

Hollywood’s stars like Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey are living in the villas worth 2.6-30 million dollars. However, if they want to live on the golden land in Vietnam, they would have to pay much higher for the same area of accommodations.

Private aircraft, yachts and luxurious cars

Doan Nguyen Duc, Chair of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai was recognized as the first Vietnamese person who owns a private airline, after he bought a Beechcraft King Air 350 in 2008 at 7 million dollars.

In fact, in Vietnam, there are many people rich enough to buy private aircrafts. Just two years later, local newspapers reported that Tran Dinh Long, Chair of the Hoa Phat group bought an aircraft at 5 million dollars.

In 2009, Diem My, a well-known actress in Vietnam, said on local newspapers that her husband was possessing a 2 million dollar yacht.

In fact, a lot of businessmen have luxurious yachts, including Dao Hong Tuyen, who is called the “King of the Tuan Chau Island”.

Meanwhile, nearly all the most luxurious car models have been present in Vietnam, from Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari 599 Fiorano GTB to Lamborghini Aventador, from Rolls-Royce Phantom Year of the Dragon, Maybach 62S, Audi R8 to Aston Martin Vanquish.

The rich people whisper in each others’ ears that the remaining luxurious models with Koenigsegg or Pagani have not been present in Vietnam not because Vietnamese millionaires cannot afford them, but because they do not fit the taste of the rich people.

Only very rich people can possess luxurious cars in Vietnam. They not only have to pay high for the luxurious cars, which would be much more expensive in Vietnam than in the manufacturers’ countries because of the high tax, but also pay high to run the cars.

Analysts believe that in Vietnam, the expenses to run a car is triple that in other countries in the world. A Bugatti Vevron, which is sold at one million dollars in the US, would be priced at 3 million dollars in Vietnam, or 60 billion dong.

VTC

Price storm in no way hurts the rich | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

LookAtVietnam - In Hanoi,
luxurious shopping malls are still crowded, while luxurious items are still
selling well. Many Hanoians still do not change their shopping habit, though
many other people have to curb expenses.

While
common people are trying to fasten their belt and stay at home instead of going
shopping on weekends, which has made markets and shops deserted; high income
earners still flock to high grade shopping malls, where luxurious products are
displayed.

Luxurious
hotels on Ly Thai To, Dinh Tien Hoang streets and luxurious shopping malls
namely Parkson or Vincom are still full of visitors every day.

Ha, a
securities investor, who was seen considering a Gucci brand handbag, said that
the handbags worth tens to hundreds of millions of dong are still within her
reach. Sometimes Ha and her friends go together to luxurious shops to buy some
products to diversify her handbag collection.

“The price
storm has not come here,” says a cashier at Parkson shopping mall on Thai Ha street.
“The customers here still “throw money over the window”. They can spend tens of
hundreds of millions dong at once. You know, the number of visitors increases
by 10-15 percent this month”.

At Vincom Center
on Ba Trieu street;
a man was seen paying 43 million dong to buy a pair of glasses which were
introduced as imports from Japan.

The
saleswoman at Vincom
Center said that most of
buyers are Vietnamese people. She explains that foreigners do not come to Vietnam
just to buy glasses. As the products become much more expensive after they are
taxed when entering Vietnam,
foreigners buy the products in their home countries already. Meanwhile, such
luxurious products are favored by Vietnamese high income earners, who believe
that imports are always better than domestically made products.

“The pair
of glasses worth 43 million dong are made of precious materials, while buyers
get the two-year guarantee worldwide. Branded goods always have sky high
prices,” the saleswoman said.

Meanwhile,
luxurious restaurants have still been living well, because their main customers
– high income earners, have not been hurt by the price storm. The menu of a
luxurious restaurant on Le Thai To street shows that a ration of abalone for
two is priced at 1.4 million dong, while a bowl of shark’s fin soup is sold at
1,320,000 dong. It is estimated that a party here for six people would cost ten
million dong.

Hoa, the
receptionist of the restaurant, has affirmed that the restaurant has been
always crowded. Hanoians like organizing family parties at the restaurant.
“Many of our customers are loyal customers,” Hoa said, adding that tens of
millions of dong prove to be not big sums of money for high income earners.

Especially,
the manager of the restaurant has revealed that the number of customers has
increased by 20-30 percent recently.

The Capital
Garden Hotel has become famous as Hanoians flock there every day to enjoy a
special pho (noodle soup), called
“noodle soup with Kobe
beef”. Despite the exorbitant price of the special pho, at 850,000 dong per bowl, and the threat from the radiation
leak in Japan,
Hanoians still spend money on this pho,
which is 40 times more expensive than the normal pho.

Meanwhile,
outbound tours still can attract a lot of travelers. Phung Don, a member of
Ngoi Sao Dai Duong Travel Firm, said that “more and more travelers book
outbound tours, and that Ngoi Sao Dai Duong had to stop accept bookings on
April 19, because of the overly high demand.”

The people,
who still spend money on luxurious items in the context of an economic
downturn, said that using branded goods is a kind of … earning money.

Hung, who
likes wearing Calvin Klein clothes, said that clothing and style are the two
important things for him in negotiating with partners. Therefore, Hung feels
better in luxurious clothes. In fact, the money Hung can earn is much higher
than the sums of money he spends on the luxurious clothes.

Ha, who
purchased a Gucci brand handbag worth 20 million dong, said that as the stock
market remains lackluster, Ha’s income is not really good. However, using
branded goods has become a habit which she cannot give up.

“When using
branded goods, you will feel more self-confident,” she said.

Source: VnExpress, Tien phong

The 100 top stock millionaires in 2008

Chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group Doan Nguyen Duc has been announced as the richest person on the stock market. The total assets the members of the group have reach nearly $2.6bil.
Chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group Doan Nguyen Duc (left)Surpassing some 4,000 candidates for the position of champion, Chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group Doan Nguyen Duc became the richest stock millionaire in 2008 as he is holding VND6,160bil worth of HAG shares.

Starting business as a small workshop in Gia Lai province which specialised in making desks and chairs for students, Duc and his colleagues gradually developed the workshop into a company and then a multi-field group, from specialising in afforestation, woodwork processing, construction materials to real estate development, tourism and football business.

In 2006, Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s chartered capital was VND296bil. Two years ago, the group began listing its shares on the HCM City bourse, and its capital increased by six-fold compared to 2006, to VND1,798bil. The total market capitalisation of Hoang Anh Gia Lai by December 31, 2008 had reached VND11,328bil, or 2.5% of the market’s total scale.

Besides Duc, two other members of Hoang Anh Gia Lai are also named in the top 100 list. His brother ranks 50th with VND143bil worth of HAG, while the deputy general director of the group ranks 100th with assets worth VND54.2bil.

In 2008, one more member of the Saigon Investment Group entered the bourse, SGT, a telecom company, which helped the group’s chairman Dang Thanh Tam have even more listed shares.

However, as the stock market has been falling, the huge volume of shares of Tam (45mil KBC, 7.4mil ITA and 13.86mil SGT) are valued at VND3,280bil only. As the asset value is half as much as in 2007, Tam has yielded the No 1 position to Doan Nguyen Duc, and now ranks third.

Pham Nhat Vuong, a young entrepreneur, still keeps his second position. Vinpearl, the brother of Vincom, has listed 100mil shares on HCM City bourse. With 49mil VIC and 20mil VPL, Vuong now has VND5,225bil worth of shares, an increase of VND1,500bil compared to 2007.

According to local newspaper VnExpress, which initiated the listing of 100 top millionaires, the 2008 list was compiled from information of 310 of the 345 listed companies.


Nearly 4,000 individuals are named in the prospectuses of the above companies; they have the total assets in shares of VND44,359bil, or 3% of GDP. 85% of the assets belong to 100 stock millionaires. Of these, 66 men are holding VND28tril worth of shares, while the remaining assets belong to 34 women.

The top 100 list in 2008 welcomes 16 new members, mostly coming from newly listed companies like Vinpearl, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Hoa Sen. There are two names from two companies listed before 2008, but have just joined the top 100 list. Only 15 VIP’s have had their assets increase in comparison with 2007. The assets of the other 85 persons have decreased by VND40tril, mostly because of the stock price decreases.

(Source: VNE)

District of 300 billionaires

In neighbouring districts, many farmers destroyed their pepper fields to grow other kinds of trees, but pepper growers in Chu Se district, the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, have made a fortune. Chu Se has over 300 farmer billionaires.

It is difficult to describe Hoa An village in Chu Se district because it is a rural village with 135 farmer families, but local farmers live in modern houses and drive cars. However, the richest and most famous farmer in this village is Nguyen Van Khoa.

This farmer owned 20ha of pepper fields. After giving some of the land to his children, this old man currently has 7.5ha of pepper. Last session, it is said that he earned profit of VND4 billion (US$250,000). This year, though the price fell, he still earned VND3 billion. Some say he has several tens of billion VND (over $1 million). Nobody really knows how much money Khoa has but around 20 years ago he spent a billion VND to build his house.

However, Khoa had to work very hard to own his current assets. He was the first man to grow pepper in Chu Se district. After several failed crops, in 1994 pepper prices suddenly soared. At that time, local farmers began growing pepper again because they had chopped pepper trees down in previous years when prices fell. Only Khoa still kept pepper fields and earned high profit.

Based on Khoa’s experience, Hoa An village’s farmers understood that it was suicide if they didn’t have their own policy in plantation and they decided to bind their lives with pepper. From Nhon Hoa, the pepper planting movement spread to the whole of Nhon Hoa commune. Nhon Hoa presently has around 300ha of pepper.

In Nhon Hoa commune, Chu Se district, there are 20 families with annual incomes of VND1 billion ($62,000) upwards, around 50 households with VND500 million ($31,000) upwards, and hundreds of families earning several hundreds of million VND a year. To demonstrate their wealth, many local farmers are driving luxurious cars, including several that are priced at nearly VND1 billion.

That’s the number of VND billionaires in Nhon Hoa commune. The total number for Chu Se district is over 300. All of them are pepper growers and many of them are ethnic minority people. If the pepper price remains stable, Chu Se may have many more billionaires in the future.

Though the pepper season this year is not very good, Chu Se district will harvest around 15,000 tonnes, worth around VND750 billion ($46.8 million).

How will this great sum of money be spent?

It is very risky to grow pepper so experienced growers in Chu Se are prudent. Many farmers have bought real estate in Da Nang, HCM City or hoarded money or gold. However, many others still think as farmers so they are purse-proud. They try to build big houses and buy cars, though they only drive cars around the village roads, not re-invest in pepper. The youth is falling prey to alcohol.

How can Chu Se develop in a sustainable way and have both economic and cultural development? It is still a burning question for not only Chu Se but every part of the countryside in Vietnam.