Owning a number of land plots may help Vietnam Television Cable Corporation (VTVCab) to succeed in listing on the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UpCOM), after its first failed attempt.

VTVCab will attempt staging another IPO in September

VTVCab has been approved to list 45.7 million shares on the UpCOM with the code CAB. The first transaction day will be September 6, 2019. With the reference price of VND140,900 ($6.13), VTVCab is worth VND6.4 trillion ($278.26 million).

A major factor in its favour, VTVCab owns a massive land bank. Notably, along with the plot at Giang Van Minh Street, Hanoi (its office building), it owns other plots in Phu Tho and Khanh Hoa provinces. Besides, the corporation also holds workshops in these provinces.

In 2018, the corporation acquired a consolidated revenue of VND2.95 trillion ($128.26 million) and pre-tax profit of VND74.3 billion ($3.23 million). 

This year, it expected to acquire VND3.51 trillion ($152.6 million) in revenue and the figure may increase to VND4.45 trillion ($193.48 million) by 2022. 

Its pre-tax profit is expected to reach VND81.2 billion ($52,200) this year and VND282.5 billion ($12.28 million) by 2022.

In the first six months of this year, the corporation earned VND1.07 trillion ($46.52 million) in revenue and VND14.35 trillion ($623.9 million) in pre-tax profit, much less than its expectations.

Regarding its failed IPO, in April 2018, while implementing its equitisation, VTVCab issued over 42.3 million shares for its initial public offering (IPO) at the starting price of VND140,900 ($6.13) per share. 

The number of shares brought to auction accounted for 47.8 per cent of VTVCab's expected charter capital after equitisation. With the offered price, VTVcab is valued at VND12.45 trillion ($541.3 million). However, VTVCab's IPO was not successful as only one investor registered a bid.

The unmarketable IPO occurred after VTVCab arbitrarily cut 22 foreign channels without giving notice to customers. The company's move elicited outrage among customers. 

As a result, the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA), under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, asked VTVCab to explain its unreasonable decision. Besides, HBO was replaced by Box Movies, Max by HBO was replaced by Hollywood Classics, and Cartoon Network was replaced by Cartoon Kids, among others.

Launched in 2012, VTVCab has become one of the country’s largest pay-TV players in terms of subscriber number and service range, broadcasting 200 channels in co-operation with other television service providers. VTVCab is also involved in digital, customised, and Internet TV services.