HÀ NỘI – National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has asked its shareholders to register their ownership by the end of this month to serve its trading registration on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), which is expected in December.

The airline will finalise the list of shareholders on November 30, and it will cease to receive dossiers for transfer of securities ownership a day earlier, Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) announced.

The state-owned airline will list nearly 1.23 billion shares with the face value of VNĐ10,000 per share, equivalent to charter capital of VNĐ12.3 trillion (US$549 million), on the UPCoM under the stock code of HVN.

The specific date of debut has been unclear but the company expects it in December, it said in a recent filing to VSD.

Vietnam Airlines made its public offering (IPO) in late November 2014 which raised $51 million via a sale of 3.47 per cent of its capital.

In July this year, the State sold nearly 8.8-per-cent equity to Japan’s ANA Holdings for $109 million, equivalent to nearly VNĐ22,600 per share.

Under its restructuring plan, the aviation company is looking to cut the State stake from the current 86.16 per cent to 75 per cent and eventually 65 per cent.

It reported consolidated revenues of over VNĐ36 trillion ($1.6 billion) and pre-tax profit of VNĐ1.6 trillion in the first half of this year, completing nearly 70 per cent of the target set for the whole year.

Vietnam Airlines is now among the world’s leading four- to five-star carriers and been recognized as one of the world’s top three most improved airlines last year by UK-based airline review organisation Skytrax.

Shares of Vietnam Airlines are being traded on the Over The Counter (OTC) market for around VNĐ28,000 per share in recent days. At this rate, the airline’s market value reaches VNĐ34.37 trillion ($1.53 billion).

A number of big corporations have recently buoyed the market by listing shares on the UPCoM, including Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) with over 2 billion shares debuted on the UPCoM yesterday, being the biggest listed stock here for market value of VNĐ76.2 trillion ($3.4 billion) at Monday’s price of VNĐ35,000 per share.

UPCoM, which went live in June 2010, is a market for unlisted or delisted public companies under the management of the Hà Nội Stock Exchange. It now has over 360 stocks with a total market capitalisation of around VNĐ170 trillion ($7.6 billion). – VNS