VIX Securities Q3 2026: Profit Falls 94% as Proprietary Trading Turns Negative

Overview

VIX Securities (HOSE: VIX) reported Q3 2026 operating revenue of more than VND 2,047 billion, down roughly 36% year-on-year, and pre-tax profit of VND 192 billion, a 94% decline from the same period in 2025. The drop was driven by a swing to a loss in proprietary trading (FVTPL) and a near-60% fall in brokerage revenue, with margin lending also contracting from the start of the year.

Key Facts

• Q3 2026 operating revenue: over VND 2,047 billion, down about 36% year-on-year.
• Q3 2026 pre-tax profit: VND 192 billion, versus more than VND 3,048 billion a year earlier, a 94% decline.
• FVTPL revenue: over VND 1,630 billion, down about 41%; FVTPL costs rose to over VND 1,717 billion, producing a negative net of roughly VND 87.5 billion.
• Brokerage revenue: over VND 37 billion, down nearly 60% year-on-year.
• Nine-month 2026 pre-tax profit: about VND 423 billion, down almost 13% year-on-year; Q2 2026 pre-tax profit was VND 75 billion, down 95.3%.
• Margin loans at 30 September 2026: over VND 12,415 billion, down more than 19% from the start of the year.
• Total assets: nearly VND 39,860 billion, up about 16.7% from the start of the year; FVTPL portfolio fair value was about VND 23,099 billion against cost of over VND 19,433 billion.

What Happened

According to the company’s Q3 2026 financial statements, VIX’s proprietary trading book turned against it. Revenue from financial assets recognised through profit or loss (FVTPL) reached more than VND 1,630 billion, down about 41% year-on-year, while FVTPL costs climbed to over VND 1,717 billion. The result was a negative net of roughly VND 87.5 billion for the quarter, reversing a positive contribution in the same period of 2025. Brokerage revenue fell nearly 60% to just over VND 37 billion, compounding the pressure on the top line.

The one offsetting line was lending. Interest from loans and receivables reached more than VND 337 billion in Q3, down only about 1%, and nine-month lending income rose about 44% year-on-year to over VND 1,034 billion. Even so, that was not enough to cover the shortfall elsewhere. On the balance sheet, VIX’s FVTPL portfolio carried a fair value of about VND 23,099 billion against cost of over VND 19,433 billion, a gap of roughly VND 3,666 billion; the filing notes this is a period-end valuation difference, not realised profit. Margin loans fell more than 19% from the start of the year to over VND 12,415 billion, alongside nearly VND 27 billion in advances against customer securities sales.

Market Context

VIX trades on HOSE and closed at 12,050 on 19 October 2026. The Q3 result extends a sharp deterioration that began in Q2, when pre-tax profit fell 95.3% to VND 75 billion, meaning the third quarter’s VND 192 billion was a sequential improvement but still a fraction of the prior-year base. The weakness sits within a securities sector where proprietary books and margin balances are the main earnings drivers, and where a shrinking margin book points to softer retail leverage demand. The nine-month profit decline of almost 13% is far milder than the quarterly figures, reflecting a strong first half earlier in the year.

Strategic Significance

VIX’s earnings profile is unusually dependent on its own trading book: the FVTPL portfolio’s fair value exceeds cost by roughly VND 3,666 billion, and the swing from a positive to a negative FVTPL contribution in a single quarter shows how quickly mark-to-market moves can overwhelm fee income. Brokerage, at just over VND 37 billion for the quarter, is too small to cushion that volatility. The 19% contraction in margin loans matters more for the longer-term thesis, because lending income — up 44% over nine months — has been the stable earnings base; if the margin book keeps shrinking, that support erodes. The strategic question for investors is whether VIX can convert its large unrealised FVTPL gains into realised profit without further cost pressure, and whether the margin decline reflects deliberate de-risking or weaker client demand.

What to Watch

• Q4 2026 financial statements, particularly the FVTPL revenue-versus-cost spread and whether the proprietary book returns to positive contribution.
• Margin loan balance at year-end 2026 versus the VND 12,415 billion reported at 30 September.
• Brokerage revenue trend after the near-60% year-on-year decline.
• Realisation of the roughly VND 3,666 billion FVTPL fair-value-over-cost gap, and any disclosure on which holdings drive it.
• Sector-wide margin and proprietary trading data from peer securities firms for Q3 2026, to separate company-specific from market-wide effects.