[14 September 2016] — The State has received VNĐ5.8 trillion (US$256.5 million) from the divestment of State capital in local enterprises in the first eight months of this year, it was announced by the Department of Corporate Finance under the Ministry of Finance (MoF).  The department concluded that the equitisation process of State-owned enterprises and their divestment in non-core business had failed to meet expectations. 

The department said the divestment was part of equitisation plans of 48 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) with their equitisation plans approved this year. 

It added that the value of these enterprises was some VNĐ32 trillion, of which VNĐ23.2 trillion belonged to the State. Following equitisation, the firms are expected to have charter capital of over VNĐ23 trillion, including VNĐ11 trillion of State capital. 

According to the MoF, the equitisation of SOEs and their withdrawal from non-core businesses have fallen short of the target for this year because most of the target companies are large and operate in multiple industries. Clearly, investors seeking to buy stakes in large companies require a lot of time to study them with due diligence. 

MoF said the legal framework for equitising and restructuring SOEs is in place, creating favourable conditions for equitisation. However, the ministry would continue to study and roll out policies to facilitate equitisation and restructuring. 

The MoF thought it was necessary in the future to speed up restructuring, increase the quality of management and operational efficiency of SOEs and intensify inspections and supervision of the operation of groups and corporations. 

It said SOEs must continue divesting capital from their non-core operations, adding that the State would withdraw more capital from targeted enterprises. Diligence to avoid losses during the equitisation process is the most important requirement for relevant authorities, it said. 

The MoF’s Department of Business Finance said the Government should instruct the State Audit of Việt Nam to ascertain the quality of consultancies hired by State companies to advise them on the equitisation process and check the final valuations. It also called for fining companies that have already equitised but failed to list on the stock market. 

The ministry said all ministries, industries, localities, economic groups and corporations should consider equitisation as their most important task. 

However, the department believed that the operation of some equitised businesses had improved. Among them, Viettel Group, Việt Nam Textile and Garment Group, State Capital Investment Corporation, and Hà Nội and Northern Food Corporation have pulled out nearly VNĐ3 trillion from non-core businesses. – VNS