Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA)– The Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) plans to sell 15million treasury stocks in transactions held between June 16 and July 15 tomobilise capital for investment in 2020, announced chairman Pham Van Thanh at Petrolimex’srecent annual general meeting of shareholders.
The meeting, initially scheduled for April but then postponeddue to COVID-19, took place in the form of videoconferencing on June 26.
According to Thanh, the sale also aims at enhancingliquidity of PLX, the code of the company listed on the Ho Chi Minh StockExchange (HoSE).
After these transactions, there will be 88 million sharesleft, which have attracted attention from many potential investors, includingJapanese-based oil and gas ENEOS corporation, previously named JXTG Nippon Oil& Energy Corporation. ENEOS currently holds an 8-percent stake inPetrolimex.
At the shareholders’ meeting last year, a representative of ENEOSsaid they wanted to own 20 percent of the group’s capital.
Petrolimex signed a memorandum on strategic co-operation with ENEOS in December 2014. The Japanese firm has a capital of 30 billion JPY, with the number of its employees reaching 9,206 as of April 1 this year. The company accounts for 50 percent of market shares in Japan in terms of gasoline sales.
Petrolimex has sent an open letter requiring ENEOS to obtainthe share and is waiting for the strategic partner’s response.
Petrolimex’s disinvestment plan was at the centre of thequestion & answer session at this year’s shareholders’ meeting.
Thanh said under the plan approved in Prime Minister’sDecision 1232/QD-TTg for the 2019-2020, the group will work to reduce the State-ownedcapital to 51 percent this year from the current 75.86 percent.
The group’s general director Pham Duc Thang said the implementationof the disinvestment plan in accordance with Decision 1232 is in fact behindschedule.
According to him, the Government has issued a plan for divestmentat all State-owned enterprises, including Petrolimex. As such, the group’s plan for 2020-2021 willbe the continuance of cutting State capital to 51 percent, he noted.
Also, at the meeting, Petrolimex forecast a drop in bothrevenue and profit this year due to the decline in demand amid the COVID-19pandemic.
The group targets to earn 122 trillion VND (5.3 million USD)in revenue, equivalent to 64 percent of that recorded in 2019. Pre-tax profitis expected to reach 1.57 trillion VND, equalling 28 percent of last year’sfigure.
Petrolimex plans to sell 11.47 million cubic meters ofpetrol in 2020, equivalent to 83 percent of the selling output in 2019.Dividend payout ratio for the year is forecast at 12 percent.
General Director Thang said the spread of the COVID-19pandemic had caused a sharp decline in oil consumption worldwide due toblockades and travel restrictions.
From January 1, the use of new marine fuels will comply withthe provisions of the World Maritime Organisation (IMO), causing the price ofnew fuels to increase by 50 percent, making sea transport costs rise sharply in2020 compared to 2019, Thang said.
He added that in 2020, the group focuses on the accelerationof the My Giang Power Center project to carry out trial operations in thefourth quarter of 2025.
The group will also develop a plan to reduce its holding inPetrolimex Insurance Joint Stock Company to 35.1 percent and successfullymerging PGBank and HDBank.
“It is necessary for Petrolimex to adjust the business targetsthis year,” Ho Sy Hung, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam’s Committee for StateCapital Management told the function.
The Committee for State Capital Management will accompanyand assist Petrolimex in carrying out the tasks of production, business and developmentinvestment in 2020, he stressed./.
