VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS NGUYEN THANH CONG DEVELOPING AND IMPROVING INVESTOR RELATIONS THE CASE STUDY OF BAC VIET GROUP Major: Business Administration Code: 60 34 05 MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS Supervisors: Vu Huy Thong, PhD Ha Nguyen, MBA Hanoi - 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES.
x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Necessity of the thesis. Research aims and objectives. Scope of study.
Data Sources and Processing. Significance of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEWS OF INVESTOR RELATIONS .1 The concepts of investor relations .2 The benefits of investor relations .3 Targeted audience of IR .2 The investor relations team. 16 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.2 Financial Public/Press relations (PR) firm .3 Investor relations consultancies .3 The procedure of developing an investor relations strategy and program .1 Investment proposition and setting goals for IR .2 Forming investor relations team .3 Identifying, attracting and retaining investors .4 Knowing market expectations and forming compelling messages .5 Developing financial calendar .6 Using investor relations tools .7 Improving investor loyalty and retention .8 Managing negative communication and crisis.
29 CHAPTER 2: INVESTOR RELATIONS IN BAC VIET GROUP .1 An Overview of BacViet Steel .1 Bac Viet Group Structure .2 Charted capital increasing process.2 IR activities in BacViet Steel .1 Current status of BVG stock .2 Operation of IR team .3 IR activity in Bac Viet Steel .3 Evaluation of IR activities in BVG. 44 CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS TO INVESTOR RELATIONS ACTIVITIES OF BAC VIET GROUP. Forming investor relations team .2 Identifying, attracting and retaining investors. 48 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Identifying the current shareholder base.2 Shareholder identification methods .3 Identifying the appropriate shareholder base.3 Knowing market expectations and forming compelling messages .4 Developing financial calendar .5 Using investor relations tools.6 Improving investor loyalty and retention.7 Managing negative media communication.
78 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: IR messages by theme.1: Bac viet Steel subsidiaries .2: Bacviet Steel has associating companies .3: shareholders structure of Bac Viet Steel .4: Number of share hold by BOD, BOM and Supervisor board .5: Number of share hold by big shareholders (more than 5%) .6: P/BV ratio of companies listed in HNX in metal industry .7: Average daily volume and value of BVG.8: BVG Investor Relations Strengths and Weaknesses .1: Sample financial calendar for 2013 fiscal year of BVG .2: Best practice of a website content and structure of BVG. 54 ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.2: The model and process of investor relations .1: Bac Viet Steeel Structure.2: Bac Viet Steel Diversification Road Map. 33 x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AGM Annual general meeting BOM Board of management BOD Board of directors CEO Chief executive officer CFO Chief financial officer BVG The stock code of Bac Viet Steel in HNX IRO Investor relations officer IR Investor relations IFRS International financial reporting standards HNX Hanoi stock exchange PBT Profits before tax PR Public relations SSC State securities committee xi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT DEVELOPING AND IMPROVING INVESTOR RELATIONS THE CASE STUDY OF BAC VIET STEEL Nguyen Thanh Cong MBA Candidate, 2007 – 2009 Hanoi School of business Vietnam National University, Hanoi Supervisors: Vu Huy Thong, PhD Ha Nguyen, MBA March 2013, 90 pages In most listed companies, Investor Relation activities are material information disclosure and investors‟ rights fulfillment. In fact, Investor Relation can get strategic advantages if the company uses it actively, effectively and professionally.
Bac Viet Steel has been reformed to joint stock company since 2008 and was listed in 2010 with the stock code of BVG. Bac Viet Steel is a small company compared to others in steel industry. Therefore, Bac Viet Steel needs to establish professional and effective Investor Relation activities to gain more competitive advantage. In Bac Viet Steel, Investor Relation is considered important.
Investor Relation team is manage directly from Chairman/CEO. However, all Bac Viet Steel‟s IR activities do not follow a plan or program. It just fulfills the regulatory requirement or improvised action. The thesis is aimed to improve Investor Relation in Bac Viet Steel to make a competitive advantage.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The introduction part of the thesis including: the necessity of the thesis, the research aims and objectives, the research questions, the research methodology, the scope of the research and the significance of the research. Chapter 1 researches the current theories of IR activities. In this section, the definition, objectives, audiences of IR activities are clearly defined. There is not a perfect model to organize an IR division for all companies.
Based on models of implementing an IR program, the selected model features are in the following order: (1) identify the current shareholder and targeted shareholder (2) attract and retain shareholders (3) understand market expectations and form compelling messages (4) Develop the financial calendar (5) Select and implement IR tools (6) Deal with crisis communication in Investor Relations. Chapter 2 analyzes Bac Viet Steel‟s Investor Relation activities, including the strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledgement of the leaders about IR is one of the strength, but weaknesses of IR activities were identified as (1) Bac Viet Steel hasn‟t applied any IR program model (2) BVG does not have fulltime IR staff (3) some short backs with IR activities. Based on above analyses, Chapter 3 presents the solutions and recommendations for Bac Viet Steel to correct the weaknesses and to enhance IR activities.
This chapter also provides details of how to implement an IR program in Bac Viet Steel, and improve investor loyalty and retention. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Necessity of the thesis When being listed on the stock exchange market, the company must comply with the laws and regulations of the stock exchange market as well as overall legal framework. These regulations may vary from the disclosure of information to production of particular financial statements.
As a result of all of these compulsory tasks and the active promotion activities of companies, a new business area has been created - Investor Relations (IR). In other words, IR is a job that has only recently appeared in Vietnam - it is the activity of listed companies to create a 2-way communication with investor communities. Vietnam stock market is in the early stage, in many listed companies, IR activities are just disclosure of basic information and investors‟ rights fulfillment. The stock market in the world has a much longer history and IR activities is the way to achieve purpose of the company when listing in the stock market – capital competing.
Therefore, it is necessary to research theoretic, models of IR activities to apply to Bac Viet Steel which listed in Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) with stock code BVG, in order to build up an effective IR strategy and program, which will contribute significantly to the overall strategy of Bac Viet Steel in the near future. This is the reason that the author chose this topic: “BUILDING AND IMPROVING INVESTOR RELATIONS THE CASE STUDY OF BAC VIET GROUP” 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research aims and objectives The aim of this thesis is to (1) propose a suitable model for an IR division, (2) propose a model to implement IR activities, (3) and give some recommendations to enhance the current IR activities in Bac Viet Steel. The ultimate aim of this thesis is to make the IR activities in Bac Viet Steel more professional and efficient, achieving international standards.
In order to do that, there are some objectives that should be reached: Thoroughly research current theories of IR activities, including: models of constructing the IR division, models of implementing IR programs and IR tools. Analyze Bac Viet Steel‟s current IR activities and define its strengths and weaknesses. Give recommendations to Bac Viet Steel for the organization of its IR division, implementation of its IR program and improving its IR activities in general. Research questions To fulfill the objectives of the study, the following research questions need to be answered: How to improve Bac Viet Steel‟s IR activities to support the company‟s strategy? What is a suitable model to organize the IR division in Bac Viet Steel? What is a suitable model to implement an IR program in Bac Viet Steel? 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com What should be done to implement IR program in Bac Viet Steel to make it more efficient and support the general strategy of Bac Viet Steel in the future? 4.
Scope of study A joint stock company who wants to list on stock market has to meet many strict requirements as well as fulfill many duties by the regulations. To maximize its shareholders benefit and competitive advantages, it not only meets the regulation but also makes higher effort by Investor Relation activities. This study is conducted in the scope of Investor relations of listed companies. It is planned to implement deep analysis on the case study of Bac Viet Steel JSC which listed on Hanoi Stock Exchange.
Data Sources and Processing This thesis uses both secondary and primary data sources. The secondary data come from related studies on investor relations, studying books, articles, online documents and so on. The secondary data also come from reports, news-letters… from Bac Viet Steel. The primary data come from direct interviews with company management, staffs of Bac Viet Steel.
The interviews are also conducted with shareholders, analysts… in Hanoi Stock Exchange. The list of interviewees shall be detailed mentioned at the end of this thesis. Research method This study is a research which applied qualitative (descriptive) method. A review of related literature/documentation is carried out to understand the concepts, the process and procedure of building and improving investor relations strategy and program of a listed company.
The qualitative method is 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com also through interviewing relevant persons. Questions will be developed and structured interviews are conducted. Significance of the study This study shall contribute to the body of knowledge and understanding on IR including: the concepts of IR, models of organizing an IR function, models of implementing IR programs and many IR tools that are widely used in the world now. It also helps Vietnamese enterprises enrich their knowledge on IR for better application in cooperation with business activities.
It also could be a good reference material for leaders and the Investor Relations Office (IRO) of Bac Viet Steel. The thesis also provides the recommendations that are applicable to the current IR activities of Bac Viet Steel: the models of organizing the IR division, the way to implement IR programs in Bac Viet Steel and some suggestions to improve the IR activities in Bac Viet Steel in order to obtain the aims and objectives of an investor relations strategy and program. Limitations This study focuses on Investor relation with analysis only on Bac Viet Steel case study and use data available in 2012. The study is planned to conduct within the duration from 6 months to 1 year.
The time constraints may have some impact on the findings and the quality of solutions. Expected Results The study will give a better understanding on the IR definition and its elements as well as the program of IR activities. Moreover, recommendations to Bac Viet Steel Investor Relations activities are at the chapter three of the study. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.