PVN considers merger of two biggest fertiliser firms

HÀ NỘI — PetroVietnam is laying out plans to divest capital from the two biggest Vietnamese fertiliser companies – PetroVietnam Fertiliser & Chemicals Corp (DPM) and PetroVietnam Cà Mau Fertiliser Joint Stock Company (DCM) – to submit to authorities for consideration.

The plan did exclude the option of merging the two companies, PetroVietnam said.

The divestment is part of PetroVietnam’s overhaul plan for 2017-25.

The Ministry of Finance had previously asked the group to adjust its holdings in the two companies to 36 per cent by 2020.

Under the ministry’s guidance, PetroVietnam had completed a divestment draft, cutting its ownership in the two firms to 36 per cent during 2018-20. To ensure efficient divestment, PetroVietnam was looking at all options, including consolidating the two companies, it said.

Under a direction issued by the Prime Minister on August 11, 2017, PetroVietnam will reduce its ownership in Cà Mau Fertiliser from 75.56 per cent to 51 per cent and in Fertiliser & Chemicals from 61.38 per cent to 51 per cent this year.

At the 2018 annual shareholders’ meetings of the two companies, PetroVietnam said it would complete the divestment schemes by year-end.

At Cà Mau Fertiliser, the group has set up a steering committee and signed contracts with consultancy firms to construct a pricing and timetable for the divestment.

On the stock market, DCM is trading at around VNĐ11,000 (US$0.50) per share, equivalent to the market value of more than VNĐ5.82 trillion ($253.2 million). In the first six months of this year, the company achieved revenue of VNĐ3.24 trillion, up 7 per cent year-on-year, but its net profit decreased 27 per cent to VNĐ413 billion.

DPM is trading at around VNĐ18,000 per share on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, valuing the company at nearly VNĐ6.97 trillion ($303 million). The company reported revenue of VNĐ4.8 trillion in the first half, up 10 per cent, while its net profit reached VNĐ402 billion, down 13 per cent from the same period last year. — VNS