Vietnam's privately-owned low cost carrier, Vietjet will hold its share trading debut this Tuesday (28 Feb.) when it will list 300 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange at 90,000 dong (US$3.94) a share.
This will give it a valuation of about US$1.2bn, making it a bigger airline than Korea's Asiana Airlines and Finnair by market capitalisation, Bloomberg reported.
The carrier, which is known for its bikini-clad flight attendants, reported 2016 revenue of 27,532 trillion dong (US$1.21 billion) and a profit of 2.3 trillion dong (US$105m).
The airline currently operates 63 routes, which include 37 domestic and 26 international destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China and Myanmar, with a fleet
of 45 Airbus A320/A321s.
Founder and CEO, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who made her first million at 21 by selling fax machines and latex rubber while studying finance and economics in Moscow, started the airline in 2007.
According to VietJet’s filings ahead of its listing, she owns more than 60% directly and through holding companies and other entities, while Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC Pte, recently
emerged as the largest shareholder with 16.44 million shares or 5.48% of the budget airline.
According to Ms Nguyen, 2017 profit is expected to rise 30% from 2.3tn dong in 2016, while passenger numbers are forecast to grow 30% in 2017.
UPDATED
Today (28th Feb.) Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) announced its decision on Vietjet airline’s public listing, officially welcoming the Vietjet Corporation (VJC) as fully-listed entity on
the stock exchange.
The first airline in Vietnam to be listed on HOSE, Vietjet has a chartered capital of VND3 trillion (VND90,000 per share). That would mean Vietjet’s capitalization would stand at VND27 trillion
(equivalent to US$1.2 billion), accounting for 1.5% of HOSE capitalization as of 15th February, 2017.
The airline will now join the ranks of ‘VN 30’, Vietnam’s biggest publicly-traded companies in terms of market capitalization.
As a direct result of being hosted on HOSE, VJC will contribute positively to raise market capitalization, offering immediate opportunities for local and foreign investors.
Vietjet is the first Vietnamese company to have completed an IPO that meets international standards and practices (Reg S). BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan are the IPO's foreign joint global
consultants. Twenty-four international investors subscribed to Vietjet's offering, including Singapore sovereign fund GIC, Wellington, Morgan Stanley, Dragon Capital, VinaCapital, and many
more.
According to 2016 statistics, Vietnam’s aviation transportation market grew by 29% between 2012 and 2016, and the rate of customers using airplanes as their means of transportation increased from
0.5% in 2012 to 0.8% in 2016.
Vietjet, the first privately-owned commercial airline in Vietnam, and one of the most efficient carriers in the world, had started to generate profits in its second year of operations.
Vietjet’s revenue in 2016 was VND27,532 billion (USD1.21 billion) with a net profit of VND2,394 billion, (USD105 million) with an earnings per share of VND8,762.
Nol van Fenema
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Sam (Monday, 27 February 2017 04:23)
"The carrier, which is known for its bikini-clad flight attendants..."
This is fake news. They used models as a promotion to launch the airline, but have always had fully clothed flight attendants!