Vietnam Airlines will float shares on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange for the first time on May 7th.

Some 1.4 billion shares will be available to investors, under the code HVN.

Each share will initially be priced at VND 40,600.

Vietnam Airline shares were removed from listing on the UPCoM stock exchange on April 23rd.

In its last trading session on the UpCoM on April 22nd, the stock price stood at VND 40,300/share, nearly 1.5 times higher than the reference price of VND 28,000 a share on the first trading day on in January 2017.

Thanks to the increased number and value of listed shares, the market capitalisation of Vietnam Airlines has surpassed VND57 trillion, equivalent to US$2.5 billion.

Vietnam Airlines has achieved remarkable growth after switching to a joint stock company in early 2015.

In 2014, consolidated revenue was estimated at VND69.4 trillion and profit after tax at VND416 billion.

In 2018, Vietnam Airlines reached a record consolidated revenue of nearly VND100 trillion.

Profit before tax reached VND3.3 trillion, exceeding the planned figure by 23.4 per cent.

Vietnam Airlines’  share listing on the Ho Chi Ming stock exchange is seen as an important event, showing its determination to enhance long-term strategic vision and business efficiency, open up chances to access financial investors, promote the stock’s liquidity and maximise shareholders’ investment value.

In July last year, the Vietnamese government obtained 165 million shares from the carrier’s 191 million share issue, so as to retain its 86.2 per cent stake.

An additional 8.77 per cent is held by All Nippon Airways.

The balance is held by Vietnamese banks and small investors.

Hanoi has said that it hopes to reduce its stake in the carrier to 51 per cent by 2020.

The carrier was voted the World’s Leading Cultural Airline by the World Travel Awards in 2018.