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Vietnamese Equity Market Grapples with Unprecedented Slowdown

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The Vietnamese equity market has entered unfamiliar territory, with share auctions virtually frozen and major share sales fizzling out despite high expectations. Official data from the Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi Stock Exchanges (HoSE and HNX) revealed that only three block trades have successfully closed so far in 2025, totaling a mere VND29 billion (US$1.1 million), an unprecedented low in recent years. The abrupt reversal marks a stark contrast to the explosive growth of 2015-2018, when headline "bombshell" privatisations generated immense investor enthusiasm.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Vietnamese equity market has experienced a dramatic slowdown, with only three block trades successfully closing in 2025, totaling VND29 billion (US$1.1 million).
  • The market's growth has stalled, with the volume of shares sold via auction deflating from a peak of nearly VND130 trillion in 2017.
  • High-profile listings, such as Becamex's proposed sale of 300 million shares and the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC)'s divestiture of Domesco, have failed to materialize or attract bidders.
  • Vingroup's high-profile listing of Vinpearl (VPL) has emerged as a rare bright spot, injecting much-needed momentum into Vietnamese capital markets.
  • The success of VPL's IPO highlights ongoing structural challenges in the state-equitisation programme, including a bottleneck in large-scale supply and a growing appetite for alternative access routes.
  • The contrast between VPL's success and the stalled share auctioning market underscores the need for reform and innovation in Vietnamese capital markets.

Statistics:

  • VND29 billion (US$1.1 million) - total value of block trades successfully closed in 2025.
  • 3 - number of block trades that have successfully closed in 2025.
  • VND130 trillion - peak volume of shares sold via auction in 2017.
  • 300 million - number of shares proposed for sale by Becamex.
  • VND20.88 trillion - approximate value of shares to be raised by Becamex through its proposed auction.
  • 12.1 million - number of Domesco shares to be sold by SCIC.
  • VND127,046 - starting price per share for SCIC's proposed sale of Domesco shares.

Sources:

  • "Via" = (no source mentioned)
  • "Vingroup's high-profile listing of Vinpearl" = (no source mentioned, but based on the text, it is implied to be from reputable news sources)
  • Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi Stock Exchanges (HoSE and HNX) - official data from the exchanges.

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