In a release to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, Vietnamese budget airline, VietJet, has acknowledged a ruling last week in the UK courts. It has not, however, detailed what happened or how it might respond but rather has suggested an appeal in the originating case will be won, negating last week’s ruling. That ruling was that the airline is liable for just over US$180 million in missed lease payments.
Notably information disclosures have been flagged by both key market classification agencies, FTSE Russel and MSCI, with respect to holding Vietnam back from an upgrade. This has tended to focus on the lack of English language disclosures but its not foreseeable that the lack of sufficient information in stock market disclosures could also be an issue.
To be clear, the VietJet release probably should have stated how the airline was provisioning funds for a payout which is looking increasingly likely. Moreover, much of the statement refers to actions the airline took to assist in tackling broad COVID challenges which does not really have anything to do with the legal action underway.
That is to say, it’s not clear exactly how useful this disclosure might actually be for investors.
See also: The VietJet UK Court Ruling for Foreign Firms in Vietnam: Unpacked