Treasury stocks, or reacquired stocks, are stocks which are bought back by the issuing company from shareholders, intended for resale to the public.

The sales will depend on the conditions and developments on the stock market but will be conducted as soon as possible in the last quarter of this year after getting the nod from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the State Securities Commission, according to ndh.vn.

The MoIT, which represents the State capital in the company, is the biggest stakeholder of Petrolimex with an ownership of 75.87 percent as of December 31, 2017. JX Nippon Oil & Energy Vietnam Consulting and Holdings Co Ltd holds an 8 percent stake.

In May last year, Petrolimex sold 20 million treasury stocks, reaping over VND1 trillion (US$44 million at that time) at a transaction value five times higher than par value at an average price of VND50,553 (US$2.22) per share.

Petrolimex owned more than 135 million treasury stocks after the sale.

These stocks were reacquired in September 2016 at only VND10,600 per share.

Petrolimex is Vietnam’s largest importer and distributor of petroleum. In the first half of this year, it posted after-tax profit of nearly VND2.3 trillion (roughly US$99 million), up 14% against the same period last year.

According to Viet Capital Securities Co, Vietnam’s oil refining and distribution is a young and high-potential industry given the country’s thirst for refined products.

It is estimated Vietnam’s petroleum consumption CARG (compound annual growth rate) will be 5 percent over the next five years, which is much higher than the global growth rate of 1.3 percent per year.

Consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% and 4.7%, respectively, while steady development of the local aviation industry is expected to help demand for aviation fuel increase by 8.5% per year.