Petrovietnam finance finds market cheap, opens war chest

PetroVietnam Finance Co., a unit of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group that's 10 percent owned by Morgan Stanley, plans to buy heavily on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

Its chairman and Deputy General Director Nguyen Tien Dung said, “The board has approved buying stocks worth VND500-600 billion (US$29.8 million).

“We found prices had dropped to a pretty attractive level.”

General Director Tong Quoc Truong said on Monday the company had started to buy several days earlier.

The VN-Index of 163 firms and four close-ended funds, Asia's second-worst performer after China, has plunged 62 percent this year.

PetroVietnam Finance Co., which has total assets of VND46 trillion ($2.7 billion), announced pretax earnings in the first nine months rose almost 48 percent to VND497 billion, or VND1,000 per share.

Truong also said the firm has a risk fund of VND950 billion.

Tuong Chau

Thanh Nien

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