Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has reduced its ownership in Vietnam’s budget airline VietJet Air (VJC) to 4.97 per cent and is no longer a major shareholder of the carrier.
In a disclosure to Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, GIC said it sold 265,900 shares of VJC to bring down its stake from 5.03 per cent earlier.
Meanwhile, Sovico Holdings, 52 per cent owned by VietJet Air CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, registered last month to buy additional 13.67 million shares of the low-cost airline.
If successful, Sovico will increase its holding from 4.56 per cent currently to 7.59 per cent. Going by the current stock price of VND203,000 ($8.98), Sovico is expected to spend approximately VND2.8 trillion ($123.2 million) to up its ownership in the airline.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao directly owns 39.6 million shares, equivalent to an 8.76 per cent stake, in the airline. Sunflower Sunny Investment Company Limited, wholly-owned by Thao, currently is the largest shareholder of VietJet Air with 129 million shares, equivalent to a 28.57 per cent stake.
HD Bank, of which Thao is the permanent vice-chairman, also owns a 5 per cent stake in the carrier. VietJet’s $170-million IPO, which attracted buyers like BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, was Vietnam’s first internationally marketed and at that time, its largest initial public offering. GIC was the only foreign major shareholder in the company at that time. Local legislation defines a major shareholder as one with at least 5 per cent stake and voting rights.
The low-cost carrier’s total net revenue in 2017 stood at nearly VND42.258 trillion ($1.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 53.7 per cent. Its pre-tax profit was approximately VND4.755 billion ($211.3 million), up 75.9 per cent year on year.
Source: Quynh Nguyen