IT firm CMC readies listing

CMC Corporation will list over 63.5 million shares on the HCM City Stock Exchange on January 22, becoming the second largest information technology enterprises listed on the bourse.

“We have prepared for the listing for the past two years,” said CMC chairman Ha The Minh. “The CMC is ready to embark on a new stage of faster and stronger development.”

The CMC, founded in 1993, has a charter capital of VND720 billion (US$38.5 million), of which 64 per cent is currently held by staff of the company, including the founding shareholders. It has enjoyed annual growth rates of 15-45 per cent and already become one of the leading technology companies in Viet Nam, specialising in integrated systems, software, telecommunications and mobile phone distribution.

“The amount held by employee shareholders is rather high, but this rate will be changed after our listing,” said Minh, noting that Viet Nam’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector was already attracting a great deal of attention from both foreign and domestic investors.

“Investors have high expectations for technology stocks as the potential for the Vietnamese ICT sector is huge and demand for applications pivotal to an emerging market like Viet Nam,” said Minh, noting that Viet Nam was currently among the top 10 outsourcing destinations in the world, and the growth rate of its telecommunications sector was 20 per cent, among the world’s highest.

The CMC estimates earnings VND3.6 trillion ($192.5 million) in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 58 per cent, as well as profits of VND145 billion ($7.8 million), up 39 per cent from the year before. Earning-per-share in 2009 was estimated at VND1,973.

The company expects revenues to increase by 35-40 per cent per year over the next three years, and has targeted annual earnings of $500 million by 2012.

Last year, the CMC established affiliates in Japan (the Thong Nhat software venture) and France (CMC Blue France) to provide telecom services and outsourcing. The company has also invested $2 million in a research and development fund and another $20 million in an acquisitions fund. The company is eyeing expansion into the US market in the near future.

VietNamNet/VNS

Tags: CMC, Vietnam Information technology