Giant ceramic and tile producer Viglacera on Wednesday started trading its 448.35 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, two weeks after it cancelled its listing on the Ha Noi market. — Photo cafef.vn

Viet Nam’s largest ceramics and tile producer Viglacera Corporation (Viglacera) debuted on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) on Wednesday.

The company started trading its 448.35 million shares on the HoSE at an initial price of VND19,900 (US$0.86) per share, valuing the business at VND8.92 trillion ($383.6 million).

The company’s code is VGC. It was previously listed on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange but cancelled the listing on May 17.

Its shares gained as much as 17 per cent during the day, but then receded to finish Wednesday at VND20,500 per share – up only 3 per cent from the initial price.

At the closing price of VND20,500 per share, the company’s value is nearly VND9.2 trillion.

“The listing of Viglacera on HoSE will bring good opportunities to raise funding for its business activities,” said Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Pham Khanh at the ceremony held for the firm's debut.

“But it will be a big challenge for the firm’s board of directors to make sure the company meets higher standards on transparency, publicity and corporate governance,” he said.

In the first quarter of 2019, Viglacera recorded VND2.27 trillion in net revenue, up 24 per cent year on year, and VND180 billion in post-tax profit, up 51 per cent.

The Ministry of Construction (MoC) is the biggest shareholder at Viglacera with 173 million shares, a 38.6 per cent stake.

MoC is the representative of the State capital at Viglacera. On March 29, the ministry sold 69 million Viglacera shares for nearly VND1.6 trillion.

The buyers were reportedly shareholders related to the Vietnam Electrical Engineering Equipment Joint Stock Company Corporation (Gelex).

Gelex now holds 112 million Viglacera shares, equal to a 25 per cent stake. Before the sale of some of MoC’s shares, Gelex held 44 million shares.

Viglacera is Viet Nam’s largest ceramics and tile producer. The company also operates in the fields of real estate and industrial park development.

Its listing on HoSE is expected to lure the attention of foreign investment funds.

The company’s production capacity accounts for 36 per cent of the glass market and 11-12 per cent of all ceramic output.

Viglacera has also invested in 12 industrial parks with total area of nearly 3,18ha. Of the total, 717ha have been leased by large South Korean and Japanese firms such as Samsung and Sumitomo. — VNS