• 29 May 2017 at 10:578,003 viewed2 comments
• WRITER: BLOOMBERG NEWS

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet Air speaks during an interview in Hanoi, Vietnam, 28 May 2017. Ms Thao, 46, became Vietnam’s first self-made woman billionaire, as well as the only Southeast Asian representative, according to the world’s self-made women billionaires list released by Forbes magazine.

HANOI — VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co is in talks to become the first company in Vietnam to list its shares on a stock exchange overseas as the carrier, which controls more than 40% of the domestic airline market, seeks more funds after plans for billions of dollars in aircraft purchases.

“We’ve been approached by some foreign stock exchanges including London, Hong Kong and Singapore, which expressed their interest in our stock,” Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, VietJet’s founder and chief executive officer, said in an interview in Hanoi on Sunday. Ms Thao said she will meet exchange officials in New York later this week.

The plan for the 41 trillion-dong (US$1.8 billion) low-cost carrier comes amid the government’s easing of rules to allow more foreign investment in one of the fastest-growing aviation markets. Hanoi-based VietJet, known for a marketing stunt featuring bikini-clad service crew, received shareholder approval in April to boost its foreign ownership limit to 49% from 30%.

“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 Ms Thao, a self-made billionaire. “We don’t want to hide our hope to become the first Vietnamese company to list shares overseas.”

Shares of VietJet have surged about 50% since they started trading in Ho Chi Minh City three months ago, compared with a gain of 6.5% 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.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd does not comment on individual companies, a spokeswoman said in an email. Singapore Exchange Ltd did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

VietJet, which began operating six years ago, has 136 foreign investors who own 26% of the company, Ms Thao, 46, said in April. She owns more than 60% of the airline directly and through holding companies and other entities, according to filings.

The increase in foreign ownership will need to be approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc because aviation is considered a restricted industry, with the limit currently capped at 30%. The airline has filed paperwork requesting the increase, Ms Thao said.

Raising the limit isn’t aimed at attracting a strategic investor, although the company is open to one, she said.

“We always wanted to be the pioneer,” Ms Thao said. “We want to increase our stock value and to boost the ability to mobilise capital with more participation of investors.”

Ms Thao made her first million dollars at age 21 selling fax machines and latex rubber. Almost a quarter of a century later, the executive became Southeast Asia’s first self-made woman billionaire with the listing of VietJet.

Ms Thao engages in round-the-clock negotiations with plane and engine makers by herself, surviving on as little as three hours of sleep a night, said VietJet Managing Director Luu Duc Khanh. In May last year, she sealed an $11.3 billion deal with Boeing to buy 100 737 Max 200 aircraft just in time to have it announced during then-president Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam.

The carrier agreed to buy 30 A320neos valued at $3.6 billion at list price in 2015, adding to an order for as many as 100 Airbus planes a year earlier.

Higher Profit

The budget airline forecasts profit will rise 36% this year from 2.5 trillion dong in 2016. VietJet expects to serve 17 million passengers this year, after carrying about 15 million travellers in 2016.

Its biggest competitor is Vietnam Airlines. The national carrier owns 70% of low-cost operator Jetstar Pacific Airlines Aviation JSC, with Qantas Airways Ltd. holding the remaining 30%. Vietnam Airlines also owns Vietnam Air Services Co., known as Vasco.

VietJet and Vietnam Airlines each have a 42% share of the domestic aviation, said Brendan Sobie, a Singapore-based analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation. VietJet’s share could rise to 50% within three years, he said in April.

“Vietnamese aviation is growing at a high rate,” Ms Thao said. “When we open the door wider for foreign investors and create more opportunities for them, it also means we increase the chance for the local aviation industry and domestic stock market to expand and integrate faster into international aviation markets.”