Vietnam airport IPO bright spot

HANOI: A $1.2 billion airports operator going public in a country with one of the world´s fastest growing air travel markets proved an attractive deal for foreign investors, who have largely shunned Vietnam´s privatisation drive due to the meagre stakes on offer.

Foreigners snapped up 82 percent of the meagre 3.47 percent stake in the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) that the government had offered in an initial public offering on Thursday, even though there is no timeframe for a stock market listing.

The sale raised a higher-than-expected $51.6 million, a rare success story for a government that has struggled to bring both local and foreign investors into the state-owned enterprises  it wants to make more efficient to reduce a government debt burden that the World bank estimates will account for just over 60 percent of GDP this year, and 63 percent in 2016.ACV controls all of Vietnam´s major airports, which have seen passenger numbers climb an average 16 percent a year since 2012."The main reason for the sluggish sales of stakes is the lack of information available to potential investors, hence there´s a lack of trust and much doubt," Dang Quyet Tien, the finance ministry official tasked with revamping the privatisation programme, adding that the government was working on new measures to improve the process.