The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has offered to sell more than 2.3 million shares it owns of the national carrier Vietnam Airlines.

The deal will be carried out via order-matching transactions on the stock market between March 12 and April 4 so that the bank is able to review its investment portfolio.

A successful deal will cut the bank’s stake in Vietnam Airlines to 14.8 million shares, or a 1 per cent stake, from current 17.1 million shares (1.21 per cent stake).

Vietnam Airlines is trading nearly 1.42 billion shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) with code HVN. The company shares plunged 3.6 per cent to end Friday at VND40,800 (US$1.75) per share.

Vietcombank also sold 7.6 million shares of Vietnam Airlines a year ago to review its investment portfolio.

Vietcombank is listing more than 3.7 billion shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) with code VCB. The bank shares edged down 0.5 per cent to finish Friday at VND62,800 per share.

Vietnam Airlines has reportedly filed for listing on HoSE and will terminate its UPCoM listing.

The company expects to move to HoSE in the second quarter of the year and the market switch is predicted to improve the firm’s corporate transparency and governance in order to keep its shares attractive, thus helping the Government increase revenue from selling its stake in Vietnam Airlines.

In 2018, Vietnam Airlines received VND96.8 trillion ($4.15 billion) in total revenue, up 17 per cent year on year, and VND2.53 trillion in post-tax profit, down 5 per cent year on year. — VNS