JX Nippon to receive sweet fruits from Petrolimex

JX Nippon to receive sweet fruits from Petrolimex

Petrolimex has published its 2017 dividend plans. Accordingly, the group decided to pay cash dividends at the pay-out ratio of 30 per cent of the charter capital, equivalent to some 94 per cent of its total after-tax profit, to distribute among shareholders.

With 1.16 billion shares in circulation, Petrolimex will have to pay VND3.476 trillion in dividends. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is the largest shareholder of Petrolimex with 84.7 per cent, will receive VND2.945 trillion ($127.85 million) in dividends.

JX Nippon, with a holding of 103,528,476 shares (accounting for 8 per cent of the outstanding shares), will receive a cash dividend of VND310.58 billion, tantamount to $13.48 million).

Previously, in August 2017 the petroleum giant paid a total of VND3.736 trillion ($165.7 million) in cash dividends for 1.16 billion outstanding shares. With the pay-out ratio of 32.24 per cent, each Petrolimex shareholder received VND3,224 ($0.14) per share.

At the time, JX Nippon received a cash dividend of VND333.7 billion, equalling $14.48 million.

Along with the dividend payment plan, Petrolimex also submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Trade the plan to partially divest the state-owned stakes to collect investment capital to develop large-scale projects.

According to the group, in 2018-2023 it will need a massive volume of capital to develop seven projects with the total investment capital of VND34.1 trillion ($1.48 billion).

Meanwhile, in the next three years between 2019-2021, the group will need a total of VND39.2 trillion ($1.7 billion) for its trading and investment activities.

The starting price will be based on the market price at the time of issuance according to the criteria that the selling price will not be lower than the price evaluated by the appraising organisation and or the price of the latest closing session.

Petrolimex will conduct two divestment sessions to decrease the state ownership below 51 per cent. At the first time, it will issue 191.7 million shares to decrease state ownership to 58.5 per cent, and in the second round it will offer 125.79 million shares.

The divestment from Petrolimex may open opportunities for JX Nippon to increase its holdings in Vietnam's biggest petrol distributor.

Petrolimex is a Hanoi-based company founded in 1956. The petroleum provider primarily operates in petroleum trading, transportation, gas, and petrochemicals. It also provides design and engineering, as well as commercial, insurance, and banking services.

Petrolimex now holds a 44 per cent market share. It concentrates on retail and batch sales. The company now has 2,400 petrol stations and will open 70-100 new ones a year which will enable it to compete with domestic and foreign rivals at the highest level.