SEEKS OVERSEAS LISTING

Plan for carrier comes amid govt’s easing of rules to allow more foreign investment

cent from 30 per cent.

“Listing overseas on big markets will help increase our access to more fund sources, boost the trading of our stock and expand the list of our investors,” said Thao. “We don’t want to hide our hope to become the first Vietnamese company to list shares overseas.”

Shares of VietJet rose 0.8 per cent to 127,800 dong at the close in Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest gain in more than two weeks. The stock has surged about 51 per cent since it started trading three months ago, compared with a 6.4 percent increase in the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Airlines Index.

The overseas listing plan would make VietJet the first Vietnamese company to officially trade overseas, according to Tran Anh Dao, deputy chief executive of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

While VietJet had done well in Vietnam, it would face tougher competition against entrenched players, such as low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd, as well as Cathay Pacific’s regional unit, Cathay Dragon, as it expanded into Asia, said Tyler Cheung, director of institutional clients at ACB Securities Co in Ho Chi Minh City.

“They have been able to accomplish something impressive in a relatively small period of time,” said Cheung. “The question is whether their business model and corporate strategy can transfer to a regional play.”