VNR500 Company List 2013: SOEs Still Key Economic Growth Drivers

Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd also ranks second in the VNR500 List 2013, only after the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). The third placeholder is the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), followed by the Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN), Military Telecom Group (Viettel), Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), Joint Venture Vietsovpetro, the Vietnam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin), PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), and the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank).

 

As such, State-owned enterprises (SOEs) remain the backbone of the economy since they hold eight out of Top 10 places on the list. Total revenue of the Top 10 accounts for nearly 39 percent of the gross revenue of all VNR500-listed companies.

 

In addition to the VNR500, Vietnam Report also published a list of the 500 largest private enterprises in Vietnam, open to companies with 51 percent or more privately owned shares. The Top 10 biggest private companies are familiar faces from previous years, including four banks. The Top 10 companies are DOJI Gold & Gems Group, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), Vietnam Intimex Joint Stock Corporation, FPT Corporation, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank), Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank), Hoa Phat Group Joint Stock Company, and Vietnam Brewery Limited (VBL).

 

The combined revenue of Top 10 private enterprises makes up over 16 percent of the total revenue of all 500 of the largest private enterprises in Vietnam in 2013.

The number of private enterprises in the VNR500 Top Company List 2013 accounts for more than 44 percent, higher than State-owned enterprises (over 40 percent) and foreign companies (over 15 percent). However, SOEs still contribute over 62 percent of total revenue of VNR500 companies, showing their better performance at the back of innovative thinking and core business concentration. Private companies account for 19.4 percent and foreign enterprises keep 18.5 percent.

 

Notably, compared with the VNR500 in 2012, more than 160 new faces appear on the list in 2013, or over 32 percent of rated companies, of which 40.4 percent are private enterprises, 36.6 percent are SOEs and 23 percent are foreign companies.

 

Regarding sectors, industry still has most appearances in the list, accounting for 72 percent. Industrial companies also make up the largest proportion of revenue (over 73.6 percent) of VNR500 companies. The service sector is the runner-up with nearly 22 percent of companies and 23.5 percent of revenue, followed by agriculture, forestry and fisheries, which contribute over 6 percent of enterprises and nearly 3 percent of revenue.

 

Regarding subsectors, mineral - petroleum sectors contribute more than 33.6 percent to the gross revenue of VNR500 companies, followed by the power sector (14.5 percent) and finance sector, including banking, finance, securities, insurance and jewellery (12.3 percent).

 

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the two largest economic and cultural hubs in Vietnam, take the lead in ranked companies and revenue. The two cities account for nearly 54 percent of companies in the list. In 2012, companies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City made up 49.6 percent and 22.4 percent of the gross revenue, respectively.

 

Bac Ninh province came third in revenue with 5.3 percent, thanks to the operation of Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd, the runner-up in the list. This is the second year in a row Samsung Vietnam appeared on the VNR500 Top Company List, ranked fourth in 2012 and second in 2013.

 

When preparing the VNR500 report, Vietnam Report’s researchers also surveyed CEOs of big enterprises in Vietnam on business performance in 2013. More than 62.3 percent of CEOs said business results of their companies in 2013 are better than in 2012; 16.4 percent said there has not been much change in the year; while only 21.3 percent expressed dissatisfaction about business results because of falling short of their plans or even witnessing a retreat.

 

In this survey, more than 83.6 percent of CEOs were optimistic about higher revenue in 2014 than in 2013, while 11.5 percent anticipated a slight change and only 5 percent predicted a worse outcome.