The Vietnamese government has announced plans to reduce its shareholding in Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi) by 2019.

Having gone public in 2014, the government retained a stake of 86.16% in the carrier through the Ministry of Transport with ANA Holdings acquiring an 8.77% stake in 2016. At present, Techcombank holds 2.08%, Vietcombank 1.83%, with the remaining 1.16% held by a variety of investors.

However, according to a divestment list proposed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment this week, government is looking to whittle down its shareholding in Vietnam Airlines by 51% to just 35.16% by 2019.

In its latest 1H17 financials, Vietnam Airlines reported a 6.1% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers to 9.95 million for the first six months of the current calendar year. Group revenue was estimated at VND42.8 billion (USD1.9 billion), including VND31.5 billion (USD1.4 billion) at Vietnam Airlines’ mainline operation. Group pre-tax profit was estimated at VND830 billion (USD36.5 million), including VND550 billion (USD24.2 million) at Vietnam Airlines.

The move is part of Hanoi’s drive to raise additional funds for its national investment plan covering the period 2016-20, and to advance the restructuring of state-owned enterprises.

According to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the State will divest from 135 businesses this year, 181 in 2018, sixty-two in 2019 and twenty-eight in 2020. The total face value of its divestments from 2017 to 2020 is estimated at VND64.46 trillion dong (USD2.82 billion).