EVN, the sole distributor of electricity in the country, has announced its intention of divesting from five joint stock companies in August.
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In July, EVN hired a consultant to advise it on the divestment process from EVN Finance, while stepping up efforts in finalizing divestment scheme of PECC3 and TBW.
Early 2018, EVN withdrew its whole capital in Thu Duc Electro-Mechanical Company (EMC) in exchange for VND77.5 billion (US$3.33 million), resulting in a capital surplus of VND31.56 billion (US$1.35 million); conducted an IPO for Power Generation Corporation 3 (EVNGENCO3) - EVN and Vietnam's current largest electricity generator, raising VND184.8 billion (US$8.13 million) in proceeds.
By the end of 2017, EVN had invested VND126.1 trillion (US$5.45 billion) in nine wholly-owned enterprises, including VND43.5 trillion (US$1.86 billion) in three power generation companies, VND24.6 trillion (US$1.05 billion) in National Power Transmission Corporation, and the remaining in five power distribution companies.
Last year, the state-run company set aside VND118.23 trillion (US$5.07 billion) for development investment, down from the previous budget of VND133.36 trillion (US$5.72 billion) in 2016.
EVN is currently the largest electricity generator in Vietnam, which owns and operates about 61% of the country's total installed generation capacity, followed by PV Power with 12%.
Electricity demand in Vietnam is forecast to continue increasing at an average rate of 9% per annum, driven by rising industrialization, urbanization and affluence, according to Fitch Ratings.
In early June, Fitch Ratings assigned EVN a Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of `BB` with a stable outlook, marking the first government-linked non-financial corporate in Vietnam rated by Fitch.
The move means EVN is one step closer to issuing USD bonds and strengthening its financing capacity.
EVN posted a revised pre-tax profit of VND8.14 trillion (US$349.8 million) for 2017, VND1.5 trillion (US$64.48 million) higher than the previously announced figure and up 58% year-on-year.
In 2018, EVN set revenue target of VND328.9 trillion (US$14.13 billion), up 8.8% year-on-year and VND117.84 trillion (US$5.06 trillion) for development investment.
