PLX valued at about $2.8 bln on market debut
PLX valued at about $2.8 bln on market debut
Shares of Vietnam's Petrolimex jumped 13.3 percent on debut Friday, valuing the country's top oil products distributor at around $2.8 billion, Reuters data showed.
The stock price closed at 48,900 dong ($2.15) from its opening price of 43,200 dong a share, with a total of 4.8 million shares traded on the day.
Petrolimex's listing on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange is part of the Vietnam government's push to privatize state-owned firms to attract investment.
The government owns three-fourths of the company, while Japan's newly-formed JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, previously JX Holdings, holds 8 percent.
"The demand for PLX was not too significant today. But now is too soon to say anything as it's just the first trading day," said Ha Le, an analyst at Vietcombank Securities.
The exchange allows stock prices to move up to 20 percent higher or lower from their opening prices on debut, and up to 7 percent thereafter.
Petrolimex's market share in Vietnam's petroleum retail and distribution business is around 48-50 percent, Saigon Securities Incorp (SSI), which advised Petrolimex on its listing, said.
Petrolimex's income before tax surged 68 percent last year from 2015 to 6.3 trillion dong ($276.6 million).
Pre-tax income is however expected to fall 34 percent to 4.1 trillion dong this year, SSI said. ($1=22,716 dong)
