Vietnam Holding posts strong performance on the back of rising equities market and buy backs

VNH : Vietnam Holding posts strong performance on the back of rising equities market and buy backs

Vietnam Holding‘s recent full year results (for the year ended 30 June 2014) report a 25% rise in NAV. Buybacks, during the period, had an accretive effect on NAV but, after adjusting for these, the company reports a rise in NAV of 22.6%, which is comfortably ahead of the Vietnam All-Share’s 16.3% during the period. VNH’s share price rose by 17.9% over the year which, whilst head of the Vietnam All-Share, lagged VHS’s NAV performance and so the discount widened.

Since VNH’s AGM in September 2013, the company has been targeting a discount to NAV that is no greater than “95% of the 52-week weighted average discount of its peers” by the 2014 AGM. However, the 52-week average discount achieved by VNH was 4.3% higher than the 20.4% target for that period. As a consequence, VNH is increasing its buyback efforts and authorised the Company’s broker to pro-actively buy back shares on its behalf during the close period prior to the recent results announcement. 

VNH’s objective is to generate high, risk-adjusted, returns by combining rigorous financial analysis with “interactive sustainability research”. The manager is a value investor, incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance factors in its investment analysis and decision-making processes.