Vietnam Airlines faces delisting after 3 straight years of loss

Vietnam Airlines risks being delisted from the local stock exchange, a troubling development for the company as waning COVID-19 concerns have seen air passenger volumes start to recover. The company posted a net loss of 10.37t dong ($439.6m) in the year ended December 2022, breaching delisting criteria for the third consecutive year. The latest earnings figure was not significantly less than the net loss of 13.28tr dong Vietnam Airlines posted a year earlier. Although the business environment has improved, Vietnam Airlines posted a net loss of 2.59t dong for the three months ended December 2022, worsening from the year-earlier figure of 1.18t dong. The Vietnamese government holds 86% of Vietnam Airlines, which listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in 2019. Japan's ANA Holdings has about a 5.6% stake in the company. Under Vietnamese law, a company must be delisted if it posts a net loss for three consecutive years, or its cumulative loss exceeds its share capital. The bourse has warned Vietnam Airlines of its potential delisting and has started negotiations with the company. Vietnam Airlines' sales reached 70.58t dong in the year ended December 2022, up 150% from a year earlier. Vietnam relaxed movement restrictions related to COVID earlier than neighboring countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Domestic tourist volume totaled about 102m, exceeding the pre-pandemic figure in 2019. Vietnam Airlines has gradually restarted international flights, which comprise 60% of sales, and has significantly increased revenue. But the company has had to spend more cash servicing dollar-denominated debts due to a weaker dong and rising interest rates. It has also been hit by soaring fuel prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which worsened earnings.<br/>