More IPOs in oil and gas industry planned

More oil and gas firms will offer shares to the public in the second half of 2016.

On July 15, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung told the first half meeting of the PetroVietnam Group (PVN) that the group should continue to promote the restructuring of enterprises and investment activities.

On July 12, Binh Son Refinery (BSR) offered 7.97 million shares, equivalent to 45.53 per cent of the charter capital in Petro Vietnam Building and Commercial JSC (PV Building), a member of the PetroVietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN).

After the auction, 2.3 million shares or 29 per cent of the shares offered were sold. Tran Ngoc Nguyen, CEO of the BSR said, the firm would reduce its ownership from 96.53 per cent to 51 per cent so that PV Building could be listed on the stock market as a public company. Thus, most likely, BRS would continue to sell about 5.7 million PV Building shares after the auction.

PV Building, with a charter capital of VND175 billion, produced packaging and plastic products, housing management services as well as restaurants and accommodation that mainly served the Dung Quat Oil Refinery in Quang Ngai Province.

In 2015, PV Building achieved a net profit of VND10.8 billion and planned a growth of 30 per cent annually in the future.

Another firm of PVN, the PetroVietnam Machinery and Technology JSC (PVMachino), a member of the Power Corporation Oil and gas (PV Power), was also expected to be listed as soon as possible as per the shareholders' desire for nearly six years.

The firm's leaders used to tell shareholders that they would list the shares when the firm got better business results. Last year PV machine reported sales of VND664 billion and the profit of VND15.6 billion, 11 per cent and 4 per cent higher, respectively, than planned. Therefore, many shareholders suggested that it was time for the stock to be listed.

IPOs of big names awaited

In the last half of 2016, the initial public offering (IPO) of three big names in the oil and gas industry included PetroVietnam Power Company (PV Power), PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil) and Binh Son Refinery (BSR).

PV Power which was the second largest electricity producer in Viet Nam after the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN), would hold an IPO in October, then have the first general assembly, and business registration as a joint-stock company in December of this year. After equitisation, PVN would hold 75 per cent stakes in PV Power.

In the first half, PV Power earned a revenue of VND12.3 trillion and a profit after tax of VND897 billion, which was 149 per cent higher than its plan. The firm said it had so far contributed VND563 billion to the State budget this year.

Meanwhile, PV Oil, the No. 2 in petroleum market, after Petrolimex, planned its IPO in the fourth quarter. It was now looking for a foreign partner to sell stakes in the upcoming IPO.

The Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR), which operates and manages Dung Quat Oil Refinery, was also planning its IPO in late 2016.