Vietnam shipbuilder to privatise subsidiaries
HANOI - Vinashin, Vietnam's largest state-run shipbuilder, plans to privatise all its subsidiaries this year to raise funds for expansion, a government report said on Monday.
The report, published on the government's Web site (www.vietnam.gov.vn), quoted Vinashin executive Pham Thanh Binh as saying privatisation would give the company more autonomy in decision making and raise productivity.
"The subsidiaries, as well as the mother companies, will be listed on the stock exchange following privatisation to raise capital for more investment," Binh said.
He also said Vinashin had won $6 billion in contracts to build vessels for foreign firms and 2006 revenues jumped 45 percent from 2005 to around $716 million.
Binh said Vinashin would focus on oil tanker building. The company is now capable of making 100,000-tonne crude oil tankers and 150,000-tonnes floating storage and offloading units.
The corporation, which was established in 1996 and has around 40 subsidiaries, plans to issue bonds overseas to raise more than $2 billion to expand capacity by 2010.
Vinashin, the sole recipient of the $750 million proceeds of the communist-run country's maiden sovereign bond issued in 2005, has been selling dong bonds to raise funds domestically.
Vinashin said it sold 5-year bonds worth 500 billion dong ($30 million) this month with a coupon of 10 percent per year. ($1 = 16,152 dong)
Reuters - January 22, 2007.
|