Opportunities for the oil and gas and port industries
In 2025, the stock market is expected to be more positive and vibrant with many supporting factors. Regarding investment opportunities, Mr. Dao Hong Duong - Director of Industry and Stock Analysis of VPBank Securities (VPBankS) commented that many industry groups have positive prospects next year.
Regarding the port industry, Mr. Duong said that there are some points to note for this industry. The rates for time chartering ships and 40-foot container ships have been adjusted but are still much higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Impact events such as the Red Sea tension, Hong Kong (China) port congestion, and Singapore have all been reflected in stock prices and now ship owners have adapted to extending routes.
The sharp increase in container throughput is a positive sign as demand is on the rise. The port industry is also benefiting from increased exports of some goods and trade. Shipping lines providing maritime and container services are likely to increase their new vessel bookings, and global container supply could increase by 5.5% in 2025, Duong said. Container volumes are higher than demand, which could impact container prices.
“With these trends, I think some deep-water ports benefit, such as Gemadept’s Gemalink, Cai Mep port, etc. The trend of increasing customs clearance volume and changing alliances between shipping lines is very beneficial for Vietnamese seaports. However, looking deeper into the internal situation, competition is also great. Hai Phong port cluster is under more fierce competitive pressure than Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster. This is something to pay attention to because it directly affects the profits of seaport enterprises,” said Mr. Duong.
Regarding the oil and gas industry, Mr. Duong assessed that the oil and gas industry is facing international challenges but is optimistic about the domestic market. In the first 9 months of the year, the oil and gas group's after-tax profit was recorded at VND19,100 billion, down 30% compared to the same period last year.
Mr. Duong said: “The difficulties of the oil and gas industry have been reflected in stock prices and created cyclical investment opportunities for the entire industry in 2025. There are two main domestic drivers for the oil and gas industry in 2025: upstream demand for expanding oil and gas exploitation activities and economic growth creating high demand for downstream (gas, fertilizer, etc.). Therefore, there are many investment opportunities such as GAS, PVS, PVD…”.
Financial and real estate groups have positive prospects.
Commenting on the stock market in 2025 and the prospects of industry groups, Mr. Nguyen The Minh - Director of Research and Development of individual customers of Yuanta Securities Vietnam - said that in 2025, the fundamental factors supporting the market will return. Corporate profits will recover and grow, and there will be differentiation between industry groups and enterprises, but not as large as in 2024.
The growth is forecasted to focus in the financial field with two main groups, banks and securities. With the bank, the next year the pressure of the bank is the highly likely mobilized interest rate but the compensation will come from real estate liquidity, credit flows into this field, which supports the NIM improvement of banks.
For the securities group, in 2025 there will be many stories stimulating increased market liquidity, with the forecast of order matching per session estimated at up to 25,000 billion VND. There are motivations to expect good market growth, attracting cash flow such as the valuation of VN-Index is at an attractive level.
The story of the market upgrade also opens up many expectations. With foreign capital expected to flow in about 1 billion USD, hedge funds following the upgrade story will increase their money, thanks to which the market is expected to be vibrant.
The next group expected to grow is real estate. According to Mr. Minh, many real estate stocks are currently trading at relatively low prices.
"It is forecasted that in 2025, real estate market liquidity will be positive in the last 6 months of the year and open up positive prospects for stocks in this group," said Mr. Minh.
