Shareholder meetings season to buoy investor sentiment

Many listed firms have released their annual shareholder meeting documents that include earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2019, dividend payment targets and earnings for the whole year. This is important news after several weeks of sluggish trade on the market.

The VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange may continue seesawing between 950 and 1,000 points as investors may spend time monitoring annual general meetings. After a short period of sideways movement, the index may advance strongly on better turnover thanks to disbursement into stocks associated with attractive dividend payment plans for this year, said Bao Viet Securities Company.

The VN-Index posted a 0.24% rise to close at 989.26 points last Friday and closed the week up around 0.9%. Fuel group GAS was the top contributor among gainers while fellow petroleum stock PLX also increased.

The real estate sector rallied with VHM, VRE, NVL and DXG finishing among the session’s top ten advancers.

Maritime Bank Securities Company said investors are paying more attention to the macro economy and corporate performance. The factors may give a boost to the market in the next few weeks.

Besides, many investors are considering coming back to the market after the recent correction phase. However, there is not much support from foreign capital at the moment due to concerns over global uncertainties.

If the VN-Index beats the 1,000-point level, bank stocks will remain attractive to investors as they are now undervalued compared to the market average. Real estate and banking businesses are also projected to produce high results in 2019, the firm said.

According to SSI Securities Inc., around 1,000 listed companies on the three stock exchanges had announced their 2018 earnings reports as of February 25. These companies account for 98% of the stock market’s total value.

The total net profit of the companies rose 18.9% year-on-year to VND276.2 trillion in 2018. But if the earnings of residential developer Vinhomes are excluded (VND13 trillion), the figure grew by only 13.3% last year.

The top earners among all sectors were real estate, banking, financial services, utilities, petroleum and consumer staples. Real estate firms and banks posted annual growth of 75% and 31%, respectively.