Vietnam's Masan Consumer to list on the main stock market before year-end
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks near bottles of Nam Ngu fish sauce, produced by Masan Group, at a supermarket in Hanoi December 26, 2015. REUTERS/Kham/File Photo
HANOI, Dec 3 : Masan Consumer, the food and beverage arm of Vietnam’s Masan Group, said on Thursday it will complete its listing on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) this month to improve access to funding.
The $8.8 billion company is currently traded on Vietnam's Unlisted Public Company Market, a platform for small-to-mid-sized firms.
Its shares have gained 25.6 per cent so far this year, closing at 220,800 dong ($8.37) on Thursday, with a free float of 30 per cent, according to LSEG data.
"Listing on HoSE will allow Masan Consumer shares to attract flows from ETFs and active funds, which was not possible on UPCoM," said Nam Hoang, head of Vietcap Securities, the company's advisor, at the roadshow event.
Masan Consumer posted third-quarter revenue of 7.5 trillion dong ($284.4 million), up 6 per cent year-on-year, while net profit fell 19 per cent to 1.7 trillion dong ($64.5 million).
The company, whose products include sauces, instant noodles, coffee and bottled drinks used by most Vietnamese households, expects to benefit from reduced U.S. tariffs on soybeans and wheat, key raw materials.
Vietnam’s main index has surged 36.7 per cent year-to-date, boosted by an FTSE country classification upgrade that has spurred IPOs and accelerated listings on HoSE, even as foreign investors remain net sellers.($1 = 26,371.0000 dong)
