Automaker retains listing consultant

Auto maker Truong Hai Group, which assembles the KIA range of cars among other vehicles, has retained Sacombank Securities Company as a consultant to advise on stock market listing.

The joint-stock company hopes to list by October, thus improving the liquidity of its 200 million outstanding shares.

According to vice chairman Nguyen Hung Minh, a number of existing shareholders will reduce their holdings by selling 9.2 million equities to enlarge the company’s shareholder community.

The group, which has a charter capital of VND2 trillion (US$105 million), has several major shareholders including Sacombank, Prudential Insurance, and Jardine Cycle and Carriage.

The company, the only Vietnamese manufacturer and assembler to make the entire range of passenger vehicles from cars to buses as well as trucks, was established in 1997 and became joint stock in 2007, when its charter capital was VND450 billion, annual sales was more than 12,000 vehicles, and net profit was VND240 billion.

Last year it sold 21,500 units and reported a profit of VND723 billion.

This year it targets sales of 28,000 units and VND850 billion net profit. In the first half it sold 11,100 units for a market share of over 22 per cent.

Truong Hai has 12 factories and 25 showrooms, and has a network of 44 dealers.