According to data from the VBMA Bond Market Association, there have been 5 corporate bond issuances recorded in March 2025 (as of March 21) with a total value of VND 10,699 billion.
Compared to the issuance value in the first 2 months of the year, the bond issuance situation in March had remarkable growth, especially compared to the low value in February.
As of March 21, businesses have bought back VND2,117 billion of bonds in March. Accumulated from the beginning of the year to date, the total value of bonds bought back before maturity has reached VND 19,373 billion, down 12.4% compared to 2024. Real estate is the leading industry group with a total early repurchase value of about VND 11,361 billion.
In the remainder of 2025, the total value of maturing bonds will be VND 181,892 billion. About 53.1% of the value of non-maturity bonds belongs to the real estate group with VND 96,527 billion, followed by the banking group with VND 41,166 billion (accounting for 22.6%).
The pressure to pay bond debt, especially for the group of real estate enterprises, is reflected in the fact that most issuers who have just announced a delay in the bond repayment period are in this group. A typical example is the case of Novaland.
On March 15, 2025, this enterprise is due to pay nearly VND 162.2 billion, including principal and interest of the NVLH2224006 bond lot. However, Novaland has only paid more than 14.7 billion VND in interest on time and more than 1.5 billion VND in late payment, meaning that more than 145.9 billion VND has not been paid on time. Continuing on March 17, 2025, this enterprise also delayed the payment of principal and interest of the two bond lots NVLH2123010 and NVLH2123013 with a total amount of nearly VND 1,217.8 billion, with the same reason being that it had not arranged enough money.
However, in general assessment of the bond market, FiinRatings experts predict that the corporate bond market will grow by double digits in 2025. The strong growth momentum in 2025 will not only come from banks and non-bank financial institutions such as financial companies, but also from large enterprises such as residential real estate, energy and infrastructure with measures to remove policies, legal issues and actual capital needs that FiinRatings experts are currently observing.
Analyst VCBS Securities Company also believes that the issuance of corporate bonds will be more positive this year. Low interest rates will create favorable conditions for businesses to issue bonds at lower costs and restructure capital. The issuance volume will still be led by bank bonds; while real estate businesses are gradually regaining investor confidence.
However, experts predict that there will be differences in bond issuance capacity between the group of reputable issuing organizations and the group of organizations with a history of late interest payment and principal.
In addition, experts also have opinions. Although corporate bonds are an important medium and long-term capital mobilization channel for businesses, they have not attracted a variety of institutional investors. Currently, the Vietnamese corporate bond market mainly relies on commercial banks, while the participation of pension funds, insurance companies and mutual funds - important groups of investors in developed markets is lacking.
In fact, from last year until now, commercial banks have almost overwhelmed the entire corporate bond market in both the "role" of the seller and the "role" of buyers. The active participation of the bank caused the market size to increase, but the bank's "one market alone" showed that the depth of the market needs to improve.
