Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro) has approved a plan to sell 637,500 shares or a 21.25% stake of Thuy Ta Joint Stock Company, the owner of Hanoi’s famous ice-cream brand Thuy Ta, according to a filing to Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

Illustrative photo.

Hapro currently owns 1.53 million shares at Thuy Ta, or a 51.52% stake. The deal, once completed, would shrink Hapro’s stakeholding at the company to 30%, while the share price would not be lower than VND10,000 (US$0.43) apiece.

Thuy Ta ice-cream brand was first introduced in 1945 at Thuy Ta restaurant, currently owned by Thuy Ta Company, by Hoan Kiem Lake.

After the establishment of Thuy Ta Company in May 1958, the Thuy Ta ice-cream brand, along with Trang Tien, became famous among many generations of Hanoi .

However, over the past few years, the company has been facing strong competition from foreign brands such as Cornetto, Paddle Pop, Haagen-Dazs and New Zealand Natural, as well as domestic competitors, including Kido Foods and Vinamilk.

In 2018, Thuy Ta’s revenue was reported at VND102 billion (US$4.41 million), slightly lower than that of 2017 and met 85% of the target. The company recorded an after-tax profit of VND2.3 billion (US$99,457), down 60% year-on-year and met 30.6% of the target.

In 2019, Thuy Ta targets revenue of VND109 billion (US$4.71 million) and a profit of VND7 billion (US$302,680).

A report from Euromonitor revealed the market share of Thuy Ta in Vietnam’s ice cream market was 1.5%, mainly because its distribution network is confined to Hanoi only.

Thuy Ta shares have been traded on the Unlisted Public Company (UPCoM) since June 2017, with the share price at VND80,000 (US$3.46) at the close on December 26, a four-fold increase against early 2019.