Hanoi (VNA) – Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) was the top brokerage bymarket share on the southern bourse in the second quarter.

SSI ranked first with a market share of 15.35 percent, followed by Ho Chi MinhCity Securities (HSC), Viet Capital Securities (VCSC) and VNDirect Securities(VNDS) that had 9.38 percent, 6.8 percent and 6.74 percent, respectively, ofmarket share on the HCM Stock Exchange.

The figures for those four companies in the first quarter of 2017 were 14.12 percent,10.59 percent, 7.68 percent and 6.79 percent, respectively.

Those four brokerage firms also had the biggest market shares in the southernmarket in the first half of 2017.

The figures were 14.85 percent for SSI, 9.87 percent for HSC, 7.16 percent forVCSC and 6.76 percent for VNDS.

Bao Viet Securities (BVSC) and MB Securities (MBS) ranked fifth and sixth,respectively.

Those two firms recorded market share of 6.5 percent and 6.46 percent,respectively, for the second quarter, and 6.7 percent and 6.25 percent,respectively, for the first half.

The six brokerages’ shares have gained significantly since the beginning of2017 as the stock market has recorded strong gains in the same period.

SSI share price rose 40 percent, HSC share price surged 64 percent, VNDS shareprice soared 68 percent, BVSC share price increased by 33.5 percent and MBSshare price jumped 114 percent.

Shares of VCSC started trading on the HCM City’s market on July 7, hitting thedaily ceiling increase of 20 percent.

The sharp rise in the share prices of brokerage companies has proved investorconfidence is high.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange increased by 16.6 percent toreach a closing level of 775.73 points on July 7.

Trading liquidity also rose to reach 484.2 trillion VND (21.5 billion USD) forall securities products, a yearly increase of 65.7 percent.

According to market analysts, the improvement of market trading liquidity isthe key element that could drive companies’ earnings up in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, top brokerages such as SSI and HSC are forecast toannounce their earnings increased by a yearly rate of 30-40 percent.

One reason for the increased earnings is a new accounting mechanism used to developfinancial statements.

The new accounting mechanism, which was issued in late 2016 and applied forbrokerage companies at the start of 2017, allows securities firms to recordfinancial assets (which are mostly stock investments) as financial liabilitiesat fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL).

The profit or loss of the financial assets is calculated based on the initialstock prices at which the company makes the purchase.

By doing so, VNDS recorded its profit in the first quarter at 222.7 billion VND,a yearly eight-fold increase from last year’s number. The company’sfirst-quarter profit was contributed by a FVTPL value of 238 billion VND and itexpects its earnings in the second quarter will be positive.

According to SSI analysis director Nguyen Duc Hung Linh, securities firms’earnings are expected to be high, boosting corporate earnings from sharetrading.

In addition, the stock market will be supported by a low level of savinginterest rates that commercial banks are using, he said, adding that low savingrates would turn investors to seek for investment opportunities in otherchannels, including the stock market.

Linh said that other reasons that could drive the gains of both the stockmarket and brokerage firms included the coming derivatives market, which isexpected to operate in August, high foreign investor confidence with a net buyvalue of 9 trillion VND so far this year and large-cap State-owned enterprisesand corporations, which will trade their shares on the stock market andorganise initial public offerings soon.-VNA