Vietjet president and CEO Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo hits gong to celebrate the airline's debut on the HOSE. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY – Up to 300 million shares of Vietjet (code VJC) officially made their debut on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) yesterday.

Vietjet is the first airline in Việt Nam to list on the southern bourse.

The share price hit a ceiling price of VNĐ108,000 (US$4.74) a share, a maximum rise of 20 per cent allowed for the first day of trading over the debut price of VNĐ90,000 apiece. However, only 12,000 shares were traded due to low supply.

At this price, Vietjet’s market capitalisation stood at VNĐ32.4 trillion, equal to US$1.42 billion.

Bảo Việt Securities Co has estimated Vietjet’s share prices at VNĐ143,400 a share, a 29 per cent higher than its debut price based on price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12.48, slightly lower than the average P/E of budget airlines in the world at 13.31.

Vietjet said in its statement it also joined the ranks of "VN30", Việt Nam’s top 30 largest publicly-traded companies in terms of market capitalisation and liquidity.

“Vietjet shall maintain a continuous and high growth rate and we believe that there will be a brighter future in the air for our passengers, the airline and its investors,” Vietjet president and CEO Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo said.

Vietjet, the first privately-owned commercial airline in Việt Nam, is one of the world’s most efficient carriers as it began generating profits in its second year of operation.

The airline continued to post positive growth through 2016, with revenue of more than VNĐ27.5 trillion ($1.21 billion) and profit of VNĐ2.39 trillion ($105 million).

Last year, it transported more than 14 million passengers, achieving a load factor of 88.9 per cent and effectively contributing to the development of Việt Nam’s aviation industry.

Besides Vietjet, two other airline companies including national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (HVN) and Airports Corporation of Việt Nam (ACV) are trading on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), a sub market under the management of Hà Nội Stock Exchange. — VNS