Vietnam's Vietjet Air to raise $112 mln via bond issue

HANOI -- Vietnam’s budget carrier Vietjet Air is seeking to raise 2.6 trillion dong ($112.19 million) through issue of domestic bonds this year, the airline said on Friday.

“We have submitted the sale plan of 600 billion dong ($25.89 million) worth of bonds for approval and are planning to raise another 2 trillion dong from bond sale later this year,” a Vietjet’s spokeswoman said.

The first issue would have a maturity of two years and would “help Vietjet channel capital amid the pandemic that is threatening the airline’s profit,” the spokeswoman said.

The coupon has yet to be disclosed.

Vietjet recorded net loss of $3.18 million in the first half of this year, down 96% against the same period a year earlier, at a time when airlines were suffering badly from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Domestic tourism picked up in Vietnam during a spell of more than three months without domestic COVID-19 transmission, but the virus resurfaced late last month, with total cases since more than doubling to 1,036, with 30 deaths.