HCMC – Hoa Phat Group JSC (HPG), a leading Vietnamese steelmaker, has been fined VND125 million for having no independent members on its board of directors.
The State Securities Commission on May 17 issued the fine against HPG, whose chairman is Tran Dinh Long, the second richest person on the local stock market after Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong.
The steelmaker violated Government Decree 155/2020/ND-CP detailing the implementation of some articles of the Securities Law. Under the decree, a listed company with six to eight board members must have at least two independent board members.
Hoa Phat’s board currently has seven members but none of them are independent.
In the first four months of the year, Hoa Phat Group produced 2.9 million tons of raw steel, up 7% year-on-year. It sold nearly 2.8 million tons of steel products, including 1.6 million tons of construction steel and one million tons of hot rolled coil steel, up 28% and 16%, respectively.
In the first quarter of the year, the group posted VND44.4 trillion in revenue, up 41% against the year-ago period, and VND8.2 trillion in after-tax profit, up 17%. The production of steel products contributed 90% of Hoa Phat’s revenue.
Tran Dinh Long currently holds nearly 1.2 million HPG shares, or a 26.08% stake.
HPG closed the session today, May 17, up 5.23% at VND38,200.
Meanwhile, the benchmark VN-Index of the southern bourse surged 56.42 points, or 4.81% against the previous session at 1,228.37, with 58 losers and 425 winners, including 151 stocks reaching their daily ceiling prices. The HCMC market saw over 583.9 million shares worth nearly VND14.3 trillion traded.
In the VN30 basket, no single stock declined and 13 of the stocks shot up to their daily ceiling prices.
The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse added 8.39 points, or 2.73%, compared to yesterday to close at 315.44. There were 79.71 million shares valued at some VND1.7 trillion changing hands.
