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Listed firms do not announce results in time: Securities watchdog
Many listed companies on both stock exchanges in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been tardy in releasing their quarterly and annual results with many of their reports not being clear either, the State Securities Committee said.
At a conference of listed companies held in HCM City on April 8, the watchdog said information about internal deals and those with outsiders is also being released tardily.
HCM City-based firms were worse than those in Hanoi in this regard, it added.
Nguyen The Tho, head of the SSC’s Securities Issuance Management Department, said many companies flout disclosure norms by merely announcing the number of deals they make and not providing information about them.
Ngo Phuong Chi, deputy director of Bao Viet Securities Company, said though companies frequently delay filing of results, strict penalties are not imposed on them.
“This will affect the… stock exchange,” he said.
Most listed companies’ results are not clear or comprehensive, and often have many differences with auditors’ reports, leaving investors in the dark about their actual position, he said.
They also fail to update the information on their websites, the SSC said.
By March end 96 percent of listed companies based in Hanoi had their own websites, it said, but most of them are rather simple and lack information necessary for investors.
The situation is the same in HCM City.
To address the problems, the SSC is drafting a new circular to replace Circular 38 governing disclosures by listed firms.
One of its new regulations would stipulate that half-yearly results must be approved by audit firms and include comments by the auditors, the regulator said.
It would also require listed companies to send half-yearly reports on their capital to the SSC and stock exchange, and upload capital-related information on their websites.
Bui Van Mai, standing vice president of the Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants, called for a new regulation requiring listed companies to announce their financial reports and audited results at the same time.
This would enable shareholders and investors to know if the reports are accurate, he explained.
Ngoc Quang - Ngoc Dung
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