By Thu Thuy - The Saigon Times Daily
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| Nguyen Manh Ha (L), chairman of Tien Len Steel Co., talks with media on the first trading day of its shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange on Tuesday - Photo: Thu Thuy |
HCMC – Tien Len Steel Corporation Joint-Stock Company on Tuesday debuted on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange at VND34,700 per share, 16% higher than the reference price although the VN-Index crashed with 157 stocks falling.
Unlike previous companies whose liquidity was very low on the first trading day, Tien Len stock coded TLH had high liquidity as over 1.7 million shares changed hands. 
Established in 1988 as a building material shop, the company was upgraded into Tien Len Co. Ltd in late 2001 with only VND15 billion of paid-in capital. Its capital now is VND540 billion.
Tien Len’s main business scopes are steel production, trading building materials, and transportation among others. Its two subsidiaries are the VND120-billion Dai Phuc Trading and Manufacturing Company and the VND161-billion Tay Nguyen Steel Company.
In addition, the company holds a majority stake in Bac Nam Steel Joint Stock Company in Tam Phuoc Industrial Park in Dong Nai Province. The company’s steel rolling factory is expected to start production by the second quarter this year to help increase the company’s capacity by five times from the current 60,000 tons to 300,000 tons of steel per year.
Tien Len expects to achieve VND10.36 trillion in revenue and VND324 billion in after-tax profit this year with the dividend of 30.3%. It also plans to scale up chartered capital to VND750 billion by the end of this year.
Nguyen Manh Ha, chairman of the company, said that the company now had about 100,000 tons of ingot steel in inventory with the average import price at US$490-530 a ton, lower than the current price of US$595. “That will be an advantage for the company to realize its profit target this year,” he added.