Aeroplanes at Noi Bai International Airport. The Airports Corporation of Viet Nam is expected to be equitised this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Although the project awaits approval from the Prime Minister, the equitisation of Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV) this year has attracted the interest of many domestic and foreign investors.

According to the Ministry of Transport, ACV has chartered capital of VND14.69 trillion (US$699.67 million) with headquarter located in HCM City's Tan Son Nhat Airport. ACV will be equitised this year, of which the State will hold 75 per cent of chartered capital, the Dau Tu (Viet Nam Investment Review) reports.

Dinh La Thang, minister of Transport, said: "The ACV needs to mobilise a huge amount of capital to invest into airport infrastructure development projects, especially for the Long Thanh international airport."

According to a report from ACV, the total revenue of the corporation last year was VND8.4 trillion ($400.5 million). Profits before tax reached VND1.35 trillion ($64.2 million), equivalent to 70.74 per cent of 2012.

More than half of total revenue came from Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai international airports.

Le Manh Hung, general director of ACV, said: "ACV's profit in 2013 did not meet the target, mainly because the corporation had to make compensation for some new airports which had just been put into operation and seen less passenger traffic".

However, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam's forecasts, revenue and profits of ACV will increase sharply this year when international and local aviation markets are forecast to see a strong growth rate after three quiet years.

This year, Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai international airports are expected to welcome a total number of local and foreign passengers of 35 million.

ACV was established in February 2012 as a result of the merger of three Northern, Central and Southern Airports Corporation. ACV is one of corporations with the largest amount of capital in the transport infrastructure sector.

ACV manages 22 civil airports, six of which are international airports that have the largest capacity for passengers and goods in the country, including Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, Da Nang, Phu Bai, Cam Ranh and Can Tho.

There are other local airports run by ACV, including Buon Ma Thuot, Lien Khuong, Ca Mau, Con Dao, Cat Bi, Dien Bien and Tuy Hoa.

ACV also has three subsidiary companies such as the Southern Airports Services Company Limited (100 per cent owned capital), Cam Ranh Aviation Commercial Joint Stock (51 per cent owned capital) and Southern Airport Transportation JS Company (97.46 per cent owned capital).

As of December 31, ACV had total assets worth VND30.5 trillion ($1.45 billion), equity capital of VND15.18 trillion ($722.9 million) and chartered capital of VND14.69 trillion ($699.67 million).

With such chartered capital, the total share value after implementing privatisation of ACV this year will be nearly VND3.7 trillion ($150 million). — VNS