Haprosimex Single Member Limited Liability Company will offer 3.8 million shares, or 32 per cent of its stake, at its initial public offering (IPO) on January 24.

The auction will be done on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange at a starting price of VND10,000 (4 US cents) a share, the northern bourse announced.

Haprosimex, formerly known as Ha Noi’s Handicraft Industry Cooperative Union, was established in 1993. In 2009, its trading operations were severely affected by recession and lack of investment capital. In 2010, its HCM City-based branch suffered losses and shut down.

In 2012, the company stopped the production of its agricultural, forestry and aquatic products. Since then it has only been producing knitted products, but even its knitting factory is producing only 20 per cent of its capacity. Its current focus is on maintaining operations at the knitting factory and leasing its office spaces. Its textile products include sportswear, T-shirts and polo shirts.

Haprosimex has one dependent accounting unit, Haprosimex Knitting Factory; two subsidiaries, HAP Capital JSC and Thanh Tri Garment JSC; and two joint ventures.

Before equitisation, the company’s actual value was VND390 billion and the actual value of the state capital was minus VND265 billion.

The company has ​42,300 square metres of land-use rights in Hà Nội, including around 350 square metres in Hoan Kiem District’s Hang Luoc Street, and 34,000 square metres in Gia Lam District’s Ninh Hiep Industrial Zone. — VNS