Updated first quarter business results: Profits of 441 businesses are growing slowly

FiinTrade’s latest update shows that as of April 23, 2024, there were 441 listed businesses representing 28% of market capitalization on three exchanges that announced their financial statements for the first quarter of 2024, with the following total profits: Taxation continues to grow over the same period for the third consecutive quarter, but the pace is slowing down to 19.7%, lower than the 48% increase in Q4/2023.

This increase in profit was contributed by both the Finance sector, which increased by 17.5% over the same period, and the Non-Financial sector, which increased by 24.6%.

It should be noted that this is growth based on a low base for the same period in 2023, in which: Stocks and Steel recorded a strong recovery in profits in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the deep decline of the same period, respectively increasing + 157.4% and 606.1% over the same period. However, looking further into the coming quarters, businesses in these two industries have cautious business plans for 2024.

For Banks, growth of 11 banks increased by 10.5% led by TCB and LPB while MBB, ACB and VIB estimated profits to go backwards. Of which, TCB recorded 7.8 trillion VND in pre-tax profit, growing nearly 39% over the same period in 2023. This is also a record high pre-tax profit figure that TCB achieved.

Information Technology is the only industry that maintains double-digit growth in profits for 5 consecutive quarters thanks to FPT’s positive business results, with revenue and EBIT margin both increasing. In the first quarter, FPT Joint Stock Company recorded revenue of 14,093 billion VND and pre-tax profit of 2,534 billion VND, up 20.6% and 19.5% respectively over the same period last year. Profit after tax for shareholders of the parent company reached VND 1,798 billion, an increase of 20.4% compared to the first quarter of 2023. This is also the company’s historically high-profit quarter.

In the Export group, Rubber is one of the few industries that depends on commodity prices with high profit growth in the first quarter, up 24%. The increase in export rubber prices of +5.3% in the first 3 months of the year is the main catalyst for profit growth of this group (DRI, TRC).

On the contrary, profits continued to decrease over the same period in the Fisheries, Textiles, and Chemicals groups, going against recovery expectations (which was the driving force to support stock prices in these industries in the recent period). With Chemicals (DGC), revenue and profit margin both declined, causing profits to create a new bottom in the first quarter of 2024.