ACB Drops in Profit Ranking, Bad Debt Hits 3-Year Low
PROFIT500 2026 shows ACB as the only bank whose profit fell and rank dropped, but the cause is a self-imposed doubling of loan-loss provisions to clean up its balance sheet, not weaker underlying business.
Coking coal up 26%, rebar prices inch up just 1%
In exactly one month, world coking coal prices rose 25.9%, but two major steel mills only dared to raise selling prices by around 1%. That gap is now sitting in Q3 margins, while galvanized-sheet makers still have no room to raise prices at all.
Property Bonds at 13%: The Price Tag of Risk
Property bonds averaged a 12.2% coupon in August, 3.5 points above bank bonds. That gap is the credit-risk premium the market is demanding, not a reward for buyers, and most of it never reaches ordinary retail investors anyway.
US Yields Hit 4.93%, Vietnam Barely Moves
Brent crude's surge past $105 a barrel has pushed government bond yields across developed markets to multi-year highs, but Vietnamese yields have barely budged. The reason isn't economic strength: it's that almost nobody but domestic institutions holds this debt.
Duc Giang locks Nghi Son start-up, 2026 profit seen down 47%
Early September, Duc Giang Chemicals (DGC) set a new start-up date for its Nghi Son complex: Q4 2026, the fourth revision this year. But the milestone barely touches 2026 results, a year when profit is being eaten away by input costs and an unresolved criminal case.
SJC Gold: Vietnam's Premium Beats UOB's Roadmap
UOB just cut its $5,400/ounce gold forecast, pushing it back five quarters from March. While the global roadmap points to a direction, the premium on Vietnam's SJC gold bars over world price is what actually decides what buyers pay.
Fuel Prices Rise 1,258 Dong as the Stabilization Fund Absorbs 500
Vietnam's E5 RON92 base price jumped VND 1,758 in the September 10 pricing cycle, yet consumers only paid 1,258 more. The 500-dong gap came from the Price Stabilization Fund, a buffer that is running dangerously thin.
Savers Under 6 Months Are Losing to Inflation
Vietnam's 4.75% annual rate cap on deposits under six months sits below August's 4.89% inflation. Term length, not which bank you pick, now decides whether your savings keep pace with prices.
FPT Buys Poland Auto Software Unit, Seller Stays as Client
FPT just acquired Nippon Seiki's 50-person automotive software unit in Poland, but the standout clause is that the seller committed to keep ordering from the same team. It's a signal of how legacy auto suppliers are letting go of in-house software.
Platinum Surplus Comes From Investor Selling, Not Weak Demand
Platinum hit a seven-month high the same day the WPIC flipped its 2026 balance forecast to a 265,000-ounce surplus. The two numbers measure different things on different timescales, and this is exactly where investors are most likely to conflate them.
Digiworld's Best Profit in 4 Years, Stock Still Down 39%
Digiworld posted its best quarterly profit in four years in Q1 2026, yet the stock fell nearly 40% on negative operating cash flow. Q2 answered that question, but the balance sheet picked up new risks.
13.8 Million Trading Accounts, Half the Liquidity
Vietnam's individual investor account count has blown past the 11-million target set for 2030, but average daily trading value on HOSE fell by nearly half over the first eight months of 2026. The Ministry of Finance has already shifted to a different yardstick.