Vietnam: Sabeco set to list on Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on December 12

Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage, known as Sabeco, is set to list its shares on Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) on Dec. 12, eight years after its initial public offering, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on November 17.

The shares will start trading at 110,000 dong. Currently, Sabeco's shares are trading off-exchange at 130,000 dong, making the market value of the company 83.4 trillion dong ($3.6 billion).

Sabeco has charter capital of 6.4 trillion dong, equivalent to more than 641 million shares. Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade holds an 89.59% stake in Sabeco, while Heineken has 5%.

Analysts speculated that the small amount of current floating shares will push the price up after the listing. The government's plans to sell a 53.6% stake in Sabeco this year and the remaining 36% stake next year following the divestment progress would make the shares more attractive to investors.

The main bourse listing process was sped up by the company and relevant authorities after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc put the company's divestment under direct supervision of his cabinet.

Sabeco is the largest beer producer in Vietnam with 1.38 billion litres a year and held a 41% market share last year, followed by Heineken (729 million litres, 21.6% market share), and Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage, known as Habeco (668 million litres, 19.8% market share), according to the Vietnam Beverage Association.

In the first nine months of 2016, Sabeco's revenue grew 9% to 21.8 trillion dong, and its pre-tax profit was 4.5 trillion dong, up 21% year on year, meeting 108% of the full-year target. Net profit increased 23% to 3.5 trillion dong. The company's total assets were 22.7 trillion dong as of October.

Beer consumption in Vietnam reached 3.8 billion litres in 2015, and the industry expects annual growth of 4% to 5% for the next five years.

Local newspapers cited officials from Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade saying that both Sabeco and Habeco have to list their shares on stock exchanges by the year-end, following the government's withdrawal plans from the two largest state-owned beer producers, in the market of over 93 million people.

Habeco, owned 82% by the state, launched its debut in 2008. It also plans to list on the HOSE next month. Habeco's shares closed at 100,000 dong on Thursday, double the price on its listing day on Oct. 28 on Vietnam's Unlisted Public Company Market.

Both Sabeco and Habeco stocks are expected to be on the list of stocks which have daily major impacts on the VN-Index after being listed on the HOSE.

18 November, 2016