Rice and motorcycle trader Angimex eyes Q3 Vietnam listing
Vietnam rice exporter and Honda motorcycle dealer Angimex plans to sell shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in the third quarter of this year, seeking to continue expansion to new markets, the broker advising on the listing said on Wednesday.
Viet Capital Securities said it is advising the firm on the listing to sell all of its 18.2 million shares.
"The debut is expected in the third quarter, while the final decision rests with the company," said a Viet Capital official who declined to be identified by name. An Angimex official, who also declined to be named, said the debut could be in the last quarter of 2012 as the latest, pending a licence from market regulators.
Rice is Vietnam's top farm export, generating US$3.64 billion in earnings last year. Angimex said rice shipments of 195,000 tonnes abroad accounted for nearly 76 percent of its business in 2011, with around 20 percent coming from selling Honda motorcycles and spare parts.
An Angimex listing would raise capital on the Ho Chi Minh Exchange which has so far been Asia's best performing bourse this year and as the country is poised to overtake Thailand to become the world's top rice exporter in 2012.
The VN Index lost 0.14 percent to close at 472.16 points on Wednesday, having gained 34.3 percent since the end of 2011.
Angimex based in southern An Giang province forecasted revenues to rise 23 percent to 3.2 trillion dong this year and gross profit at 72 billion dong, down 16.4 percent from 2011, it said in a resolution after a shareholder meeting in late March.
Angimex also forecasts rice exports in 2012 to rise nearly 13 percent to 220,000 tonnes, or 3 percent of Vietnam's total of 7.2 million tonnes, by expanding sales of high-quality rice in Hong Kong, Singapore and China.
Once listed, Angimex shares would join two other major rice exporting firms, Vinh Long Cereal and Food Corp and Dongthap Trading Co on the exchange. ($1=20,800 dong)
Reuters
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