Vietnam Enterprise Investments (LSE:VEIL) Ltd (VEIL) upped its net asset value by 0.5% in the first three months of 2022, compared to a drop of 0.3% for its Vietnam Index benchmark.
VEIL's NAV per share was US$12.27 at the end of March with total net assets of US$2.6bn.
The discount of the share price to NAV widened to 19.1% over the period, which the trust said was in line with other discounts in the sector and markets becoming more nervous since the start of the Ukraine war.
Buybacks also saw the company repurchase 2.8mln shares in the quarter, up from 478,000 shares in the previous three months.
VEIL said it remained heavily overweight in banking, steel, retail and technology, and moved to modestly overweight in property in the quarter.
“These are the sectors the investment manager believes are best positioned to be the main beneficiaries of the key trends currently driving Vietnam's development,” said the statement.
Dien Huu Vu, VEIL’s portfolio manager, added: "In Q1 2022, trading initially moved into market large-caps but returned to the small/mid-cap buying trend seen from retail investors in H2 2021, we believe due to investor uncertainty regarding global events.
“VEIL remains committed to its high conviction approach of holding stocks in the sectors we believe will benefit most from Vietnam's main top-down force of middle-class formation, in turn driving infrastructure, urbanisation, financial services and consumption.
“At the end of Q1 2022, these sectors made up 62% of the company's holdings and 23% of the Vietnam Index.”
Within the portfolio, VEIL reduced its position slightly in integrated steel manufacturer Hoa Phat Group while increasing its allocation to selected mid-cap companies with big land banks, strong execution, and good marketing teams.
Over one- and three-year periods, VEIL's NAV has increased 31.5% and 83.1% compared to an increase of 28.0% and 62.4% in the VNI, respectively.