Government fund subscribes to Vietnam Airlines right issue

Vietnam’s sovereign fund has subscribed to Vietnam Airlines’s rights offering amid its accumulating losses due to Covid-19.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) paid VND6.89 trillion ($303.56 million) to acquire 689.5 million shares and kept its ownership rate in the state-owned carrier at 31.08 percent.

The airline’s HVN ticker rose by the maximum allowed 7 percent Monday, its sixth consecutive day of gain.

HVN’s issued VND8 trillion worth of stocks to existing shareholders to increase its capital.

Japan’s ANA Holdings, the operator of All Nippon Airways which owns an 8.77 percent stake in Vietnam Airlines, sold its rights to buy 70 million shares to Vietnam Airlines employees since it is itself facing financial difficulties.

The carrier estimates its losses for the first half of 2021 at around VND10.79 trillion.