One year after online gaming and messaging firm VNG Corporation issued plans to list its shares on Nasdaq in the US, no information of progress has been disclosed.

According to Reuters, in May 2017, VNG signed a preliminary agreement with US bourse operator Nasdaq Inc. to explore an initial public offering (IPO), a move that could make it the first Southeast Asian firm to be listed overseas.

The agreement, which would see Nasdaq help VNG prepare for the listing, was signed on the sidelines of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the US.

According to the plan, VNG would take between 18-24 months to complete the procedures for listing and conducting its IPO.

In reality, Vietnamese firms are facing difficulties in listing overseas due to the strict listing criteria set by foreign stock exchanges. Major corporations Vinamilk, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, and Saigon Securities Corporation have all put forward plans along these lines over the past ten years, but none of them have managed to succeed due to restrictions in foreign ownership (which have since been lifted), differences in accounting standards, and the global financial crisis.

According to the latest report of VNG, in 2017, it reached a record in revenue and after-tax profit. Notably, it acquired over VND4.26 trillion ($187.06 million) in revenue and VND938 trillion ($41.19 million) in after-tax profit, signifying increases of 41 and 72 per cent.

Especially, last year VNG’s profit margin was high at 0.22 per cent.

As of the end of 2017, VNG reported an accumulated profit of VND4.6 trillion ($201.99 million), 13.6 times higher than its charter capital (VND337 billion). Besides, the firm has no bank debts.

Despite its positive consolidated business results, VNG still suffered a loss from investing in e-commerce platform Tiki.

Notably, VNG Corporation completed a VND383-billion ($17.02 million) deal to acquire a 38 per cent stake in Tiki. Accordingly, VNG spent VND104,000 ($4.57) per share, with the expectation to acquire benefits from one of the largest e-commercial platforms in Vietnam.

However, in 2017 VNG reported a loss of VND125.3 billion ($5.5 million) from Tiki, 34 per cent more than in the previous year. The value of VNG’s investment as of the end of 2017 was VND165.7 billion ($7.27 million) only, VND218.7 billion ($9.6 million) less than the initial investment value.

Founded in 2004, VNG provides online games, music streaming, and messaging applications.

VIR