Vietnam Airlines strives to balance cash flow in 2024: chairman

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will focus on implementing its restructuring scheme with a view to balancing revenues and expenditures from 2024, said its chairman Dang Ngoc Hoa.

"We have seen both opportunities and challenges at the same time. To overcome challenges and seize opportunities for recovery and development, Vietnam Airlines has built synchronous plans and solutions in all fields,” Hoa said at the 2023 annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders on Saturday.

According to the chairman, Vietnam Airlines, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as HVN, has targeted revenue of about VND91.81 trillion ($3.78 billion) in 2023, an increase of 28% over the previous year. It has estimated losses at more than VND6 trillion ($247.27 million) this year.

The carrier’s 2022 report showed that last year, it faced many difficulties and challenges such as rising input costs, especially fuel; fluctuations in the global political, economic and social situation; and limited travel demand due to regulations on entry and quarantine still in place in some countries.

Despite these difficulties, the airline restored its entire domestic flight network and resumed more than 70% of international routes, with transport volume targets all exceeding the yearly plans by 7-8%.

By the end of 2022, Vietnam Airlines boasted a network of 44 international routes to 25 destinations in 16 countries and territories.

According to its 2022 financial statement, Vietnam Airlines' total consolidated revenue reached VND71.77 trillion ($2.96 billion), 20% higher than the plan set by the annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM) and 2.4 times higher than the result in 2021.

The consolidated loss was VND11.22 trillion ($462.4 million), lower than the same period the previous year and the plan submitted to the AGM in 2022.

This marked Vietnam Airlines' third consecutive year of losses with a total of more than VND35 trillion ($1.44 billion) and negative equity of VND11 trillion ($453.3 million). According to regulations, Vietnam Airlines (HVN) was at risk of being delisted in the near future.

Regarding this issue, chief accountant Tran Thanh Hien said that Vietnam Airlines' situation is very special. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it was one of the leading enterprises in terms of capitalization on the HoSE with healthy finances, but the pandemic, an objective factor, caused it to struggle.

Hien said he hoped that state agencies will objectively evaluate factors that negatively affected Vietnam Airlines' production and business so HVN is not delisted.

He also expressed his wish for the government to approve the airline’s restructuring plans such as divesting from fuel supplier Skypec and issuing shares to raise capital as soon as possible.

On the stock market, HVN closed Friday at VND10,900 ($0.45) per share.