Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) plans to gain a revenue of more than VND16 trillion (US$701.75 million) and a profit of over VND5.6 trillion this year.— Photo vietnamfinance.vn

Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) plans to gain a revenue of more than VND16 trillion (US$701.75 million) and a profit of over VND5.6 trillion this year.

The expected dividend payout ratio of the company is 9 per cent.

This was announced by ACV General Director Le Manh Hung at the shareholders’ meeting held in Ha Noi yesterday.

Although the target seems feasible, the corporation is facing several difficulties this year, according to Hung.

“The domestic market growth will fall sharply in 2018 because over the past years, especially from 2014 to 2016, it saw the participation of private airlines, which opened new routes with flexible pricing policies,” Hung said.

This helped the growth rate of the domestic market reach a high of 20 per cent, 27 per cent and 30 cent in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. But by 2017, this number decreased to only 18 per cent, he added.

In terms of infrastructure, ACV plans to invest in projects on building, upgrading and expanding a number of airports, such as Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Cat Bi, Chu Lai and Phu Bai — which have the potential to develop economy and tourism — to receive an increasing number of passengers.

Hung said the corporation would spend some VND7.57 trillion for these projects, including building infrastructure and purchasing equipment.

ACV will give priority to several projects, including building passenger terminal T3 at Tan Son Nhat Airport, building passenger and cargo terminals and infrastructure at Phu Bai Airport, upgrading infrastructure at Cat Bi Airport and building passenger terminals and infrastructure at Chu Lai Airport.

ACV’s report shows that Viet Nam’s aviation market continued to accelerate the transport of passengers and cargo through airports in 2017. The aviation industry served some 94.1 million passengers last year, marking an increase of 16 per cent compared to 2016. Of this, international arrivals were 30.3 million passengers, a 27 per cent increase compared to 2016. The cargo volume reached 1,366,000 tonnes, up by 22 per cent year-on-year.

At the meeting, Hung said the financial performance of ACV exceeded the plan approved at the 2017 shareholders’ meeting. The targets for revenue and profit both exceeded the plan, with net earnings of VND13.67 trillion, up by 10 per cent over 2016, and a pre-tax profit of VND5.22 trillion, up by 42 per cent year on year.

The quality of service at airports has remarkably improved, Hung said.

Currently, there are 21 airports in the country meeting the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Last year, Noi Bai International Airport ranked 83 out of 100 best airports in the world announced by SkyTrax. — VNS