Vietnam market beckons

Some revealing comments on Vietnam's markets from the Malaysian Star about a Malay company exploring a listing on the HCMC exchange:

The best performing stock market in the region so far this year is Vietnam, up an unbelievable 36% in just three weeks this month, after surging 144% last year as measured by the Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Stock Index or VNIndex.

That would explain Furniweb Industrial Products Bhd's announcement last week that it is exploring the possibility of listing its subsidiary Furniweb Manufacturing (Vietnam) Co Ltd (FMV) on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre.

This is the first time that a Malaysian corporate is looking into listing a subsidiary in the Vietnamese stock market.

...

One obvious benefit of a listing in Vietnam is the relatively high price/earnings ratios (PEs) of 20 to 30 times (which means that companies there have a higher market value than elsewhere). This is even for small-cap companies there compared with about 10 times or less on Bursa's second board.

...

If the proposed listing of FMV were successful, and it traded at a PE of 20 times or more, it would substantially raise Furniweb's net asset value.

hmmm... Sounds like everyone is trying to cash in on Vietnam's HOT (overvalued?) Stock Markets...

Vietnam market beckons (The Star Online)