Top 50 public companies of 2023 sees major changes

Fertiliser products of Petro Vietnam Ca Mau Fertilizer JSC (DCM). (Photo: DPM)

The Top 50 prestigious and effective public companies of 2023 (VIX50), recently announced by the Vietnam Report JSC, has witnessed a significant change compared to 2022 with cautious forecasts.

This list in 2023 has seen an amazing change with the spectacular performance of the banking industry. The Vinhomes Joint Stock Company, topping the list in 2022, has been plunged to the bottom of the ranking to make room for the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).

A series of popular enterprises such as Hoa Phat, Masan, The Gioi Di Dong had to leave the Top 10 list to make room for PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Corporation (DPM); FPT Joint Stock Company and a series of banks such as Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank); Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Military Bank); Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB); Ho Chi Minh City Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HDBank); and Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB). Most of these banks still performed well and were honoured through the tumultuous years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a remarkable effort in the context that in 2022, Vietnam’s stock market was going through strong volatile due to geopolitic crisis, unstable macro-economics, tight monetary policies of many central banks, high interest rates, exchange rate pressure, along with a decrease in investor confidence after a series of cases of economic corruption and stock market manipulation.

The VN-Index plunged from an all-time high of over 1,500 points set on January 6, 2022 to a bottom of 874 points in mid-November 2022. Total capital mobilisation on the stock market in 2022 reached VNĐ351.8 trillion, down 22% compared to the previous year.

Amid the constant fluctuations of the economy and the stock market, especially when market confidence is at a low level after recent violations, reputation and efficiency play a key role in the success of listed companies because it improves access to capital, boosts market valuations, and provides competitive advantages.

According to a survey by Vietnam Report, corporate liquidity and valuation are among the top seven factors that most affect the reputation and efficiency of public enterprises this year. Notably, pidend policy has risen from the 8th position last year to the 6th most influential factor in 2023. This is a factor associated with corporate governance. Consistency in pidend payouts and pidend growth rates can help investors assess the financial performance and stability of a business over time.

Factors related to communication are also recognised to have a strong impact on the prestige and effectiveness of the business.

Vietnam Report's research still shows the top six potential industries with the best growth stocks including: Banking, Food Production, Power Production and Distribution, Oil and Gas Production, Tourism and Recreation, Pharmaceuticals, Construction and Materials./.