Vietnam's State Capital Investment Corp (SCIC) plans to invest eight trillion dong ($347 million) in Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN). The amount is equal to 25 per cent of HVN’s charter capital.
SCIC director-general Nguyen Chi Thanh told a press conference on January 14: “Vietnam Airlines will issue eight trillion dong in shares to existing shareholders to raise its charter capital. And SCIC, representing the government, will buy the shares.”
The two sides had a meeting to work out the HVN share price, Thanh added.
Vietnam Airlines is creating a share offering plan to raise its charter capital and needs to get opinions from the State Securities Commission of Vietnam. Meanwhile, SCIC’s mission is to price HVN’s share value.
To define the share offering price, Vietnam Airlines has to evaluate its own value based on its five-year business plan. But Covid-19 is a biggest challenge for the carrier’s business plan since there is no indication of when the pandemic will be over and international flights can resume.
Thanh said: “Amid the spread of Covid-19 around the world, it is very difficult to create a business plan for Vietnam Airlines. If there is no business plan, we cannot judge the enterprise’s value. Only when Vietnam Airlines opens international flights, can its business improve.”
“So to price Vietnam Airlines, SCIC will select a well-known accounting firm with a good reputation to assess the carrier’s value. That accounting firm can use one of a number of business valuation methods.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, HVN’s share price declined 0.65 per cent to finish January 18 at 30,650 dong. The shares increased nearly 7.4 per cent since the beginning of this year.
In its third-quarter result, Vietnam Airlines posted a decline of more than 70 per cent to 7.6 trillion dong in consolidated revenue. It reported a loss of nearly four trillion dong in profit after tax.
As for the carrier’s performance in 2020, its consolidated revenue reached 42.5 trillion dong, including 33 trillion from its parent company. The results exceeded their respective targets by 1.9 trillion and 448 billion dong.
It was projected to suffer a loss of 14.4 trillion dong. Of the total, its parent company’s loss in 2020 was estimated at more than 12 trillion, which was 2.42 trillion lower than the previous forecast.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
