Vietjet is confident with new business strategy in 2021 on solid 2020 ground

(Vietjet, Ho Chi Minh City, June 29, 2021) – Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (HOSE: VJC) has successfully held the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2021 to review its business results and to vote on the audit report 2020 and the development plan for 2021.

As signs of recovery in the aviation industry have been flying since the start of this year, Vietjet has oriented its 2021 business plan delivering a “Back to the sky” message with a focus on domestic growth while being on standby for the resumption of international market in July 2021.

The shareholders have passed a Resolution to resettle a more cautious business plan for 2021 taking into account the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, Vietjet has set the targets for air transport revenue at VND15,500 billion (approx. US$668.7 million) and the consolidated revenue at VND21,900 billion (approx. US$945.1 million), achieving a year-on-year growth of  20%. Such will be mainly driven from an exponential increase in cargo revenue, new services in air transport, personel training and aircraft maintenance and several investments in projects and finance. Vietjet is ready for the upcoming recovery phase.

The airline will keep revolving around its customer-focused strategy while striving for innovation and creativity. It is expected to digitalize every services available and operation protocols, growing business to improve its productivity and service quality. Vietjet is eyeing to have the passenger load factor reach 80% while the on-time performance stand at over 90%, and to serve up to 15 million passengers across its flight network.

In addition to more investment into the Vietjet Aviation Academy (VJAA) for an infrastructure and equipment build-up, the airline is also investing into a technology park to welcome the arrival of aviation experts and activities as part of the efforts to make Vietjet one of the top airlines in the world.

CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao delivered a speech at the meeting

Regarding the audit report 2020, the revenue of the parent company stood at VND15,203 billion (approx. US$656.8 million) while air transport made a loss of VND1,453 billion (approx. US$62.6 million), relatively lower the expectation. The consolidated revenue was reported at VND18,220 billion (approx. US$788.3 million) and the consolidated profit reached VND68 billion (approx. US$2.9 million). Vietjet is among few airlines in the world managing to keep its core business afloat while sustaining jobs and turning a profit in 2020.

Vietjet’s total assets reached VND45,197 billion (approx. US$ 1.96 billion) while its owner equity was at VND17,325 billion (approx. US$751.3 million) including treasury shares. Its debt-to-equity ratio stayed at as low as 0.66 while the liquidity ratio remained at 1.28, which is considered a good performance on a global scale.

The airline has opened 8 new domestic routes in 2020, flying more than 15 million passengers on nearly 79,000 flights with over 120,000 safe flight hours. Vietjet has reported passenger load factor at over 80% while on-time performance rate stayed at a global high 90%. Vietjet’s technical reliability rate stood at 99.64% and received the highest safety ranking of 7 stars. It was also listed as one of the safest and best low-cost airlines in the world in 2020 by Airlineratings.

Proactively implementing new approach to develop the cargo sector, Vietjet has since delivered more than 60,000 tons of cargo on nearly 1,200 flights. Vietjet was the first airline in Vietnam being allowed to deploy cargo operation in passenger cabin (CIPC). It has airlifted cargo to as far as the Americas and Europe which has contributed extra revenue to the parent company. Vietjet has been hailed as the “Belly carrier of the year” and the “Low-cost carrier of the year” by cargo magazine Payload Asia.

The year 2020 also marked the first year of the Vietjet Ground Services Center (VJGS) at Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi). The center has helped the airline greatly improve its service quality while cutting back on the outsourcing costs.

Extending training courses for the employees, the VJAA has offered more than 47,300 hours of training throughout 2020. It has partnered with aircraft manufacturer Airbus to install the second flight simulator (SIM) to remarkably improve its pilot training capability, making VJAA the most advanced aviation trainng and practicing center in the region.

Vietjet has participated in several charity activities including organizing repatriation flights and free cargo airlifting to the affected people in the typhoon-striken Central region of Vietnam. It has also granted medical masks to the citizens of France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States to name a few, which helped deliver the spirit of good living of the Vietjet people to the community in Vietnam and beyond.

Managing Director Dinh Viet Phuong delivered a speech at the meetingmeeting

Despite the impacts of the pandemic, the shareholders have voted through the Proposal for appropriation of profit in pursuant to Resolution 01-2020 of the General Shareholders Meeting 2020 and the appropriation of profit plan 2021. Accordingly, the Board of Directors (BOD) has declared a 25% stock dividend as priorly approved in the Resolution 01-2020 to focus financial resources on air transport business. The BOD will also decide on the plan for appropriation of profit in 2021.

To guarantee sufficient resources for a safe and efficient comeback of Vietjet, the shareholders have agreed to let the BOD decide on a plan to raise charter capital through private placement of shares at a maximum of 15% of the charter capital. The BOD will also consider a US$300 million international bond offering in 2021-2022 to allow Vietjet to improve its financial position and to stay in the track of sustainable growth.

The shareholders have also passed an employee stock ownership plan to isssue up to 10 million shares. It is expected to drive a boost for innovation and creativity, encouraging the working spirit and employee retention for the sake of Vietjet’s development.

General Director of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam delivered a speech at the meeting

General Director of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Dinh Viet Thang spoke highly of Vietjet’s enormous efforts to remove obstacles and sustain business during the pandemic, especially in abiding by strict COVID-19 prevention regulations. He said that the company has played an active role in many Government’s campaigns including repatriating Vietnamese overseas and airlifting disease prevention equipment.

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan delivered a speech at the meeting

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan at the meeting has recognized that Vietjet has contributed a fair share to the development of air cargo sector in Vietnam.

“The Ministry of Transport highly appreciated Vietjet’s dynamic management approach. The pre-pandemic Vietjet was the most efficient airline in terms of productivity with its profit in 2019 the largest in the aviation industry. We believe that Vietjet will be able to stay on this track once the pandemic is over,” Le said.

Taking into account the recent COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Vietnam and positive signs of the aviation industry in the US and Europe, the shareholders have expressed their beliefs on the close direction and orientation of the BOD and the determined orders of the Board of Management (BOM) as well as relentless efforts of all of Vietjet employees. The BOM has committed to bring Vietjet through the pandemic and carry out further business innovations for a strong, efficient and sustainable development in the context of Vietnam forecasting a 6.7% of GDP growth this year amid a recovering global economy.

“As a better future lies ahead, we’ll work hard and relentlessly to make it come closer,” said Vietjet CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.