VietJet, the budget carrier of Vietnam, founded by Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, is all set to become the first Vietnamese company to get its shares listed on overseas stock exchanges. The company went public in February this year and has many ambitious plans up its sleeves, including higher participation by foreign investors and raising its market share in Vietnam.
"We've been approached by some foreign stock exchanges including London, Hong Kong and Singapore, which expressed their interest in our stock," Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, VietJet's founder and chief executive officer, told news agency Bloomberg in Hanoi on Sunday.
"Listing overseas on big markets will help increase our access to more fund sources, boost the trading of our stock and expand the list of our investors," she said, adding, "We don't want to hide our hope to become the first Vietnamese company to list shares overseas."
She said she would meet stock exchange officials in New York this week.
Early this month, the "bikini" airline had obtained shareholder approval to raise the foreign shareholding in the company from the current 30 percent to 49 percent, as part of its expansion plans.
Four months ago, the company's 167 million initial public offering (IPO) that valued it about $1 billion, saw a spectacular listing on February 28, gaining 20 percent on debut on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.
In 2016, VietJet logged 27.4 trillion dong (around $1.17 billion) in revenues and 2.4 trillion dong in profit, the Nikkei Asian Review reported, adding that the growth plans would mean 42 trillion dong ($1.8 billion) in revenues and 3.3 trillion dong in net profit.
Launching its commercial services in December 2011, VietJet currently has 45 aircraft and flies to destinations within as well as 30 regional destinations in Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Myanmar.
The carrier managed to catch the attention of passengers and the general public when its stewardesses appeared in little more than bikinis as uniform.
"They've been clever about their marketing.This gave them huge publicity all over the world," aviation analyst Greg Waldron of FlightGlobal told the BBC in February.
A few weeks ago, VietJet resorted to a less-risky way — flash mob dance — to welcome its passengers on board on the maiden Hanoi-Singapore flight.
