UPDATE 1-Vietnam brewer Sabeco aims to raise $557 mln in IPO

(For an expanded IPO diary, please click on <VN/IPOMENU>) (Adds Habeco's IPO, industry output)

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco), Vietnam's largest brewer, plans to raise at least $557 million from selling 20 percent of its shares in an initial public offering late this month, the stock exchange said.

The IPO was delayed from August 2007 as the partial privatisation of the Ho Chi Minh City-based brewer received approval only on Dec. 28 and the government said it would retain 79.61 percent of the firm.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange .VNI said in a separate statement seen on Wednesday Sabeco would auction 128,257,000 shares, or 20 percent, on Jan. 28 at a starting price of 70,000 dong ($4.34) each.

It did not say what Sabeco would use the proceeds for.

Based on the starting price, Sabeco, which has a 30 percent share of a domestic beer market it says will grow 10 percent a year over the next decade, would be valued at $2.78 billion.

In another directive issued on Dec. 28, the government allowed Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Habeco), which has registered capital of 2.32 trillion dong, to sell 15 percent of its shares in an IPO on the Hanoi stock market .HASTCI.

The government said it would retain 74.44 percent in Hanoi-based Habeco, which is expected to raise at least $108 million. It has yet to set a date.

Vietnam's beer production rose 19.2 percent last year to 1.85 billion litres, government statistics showed.

Neither brewer has said when it planned a domestic listing. Initial public offerings and stock market trading debuts are separate affairs in Vietnam.

Sabeco's 2007 results were not immediately available.

The company, which brews Saigon Beer and Beer 333, said in late 2006 it would double its beer output to 1 billion litres by 2010, when per capita annual beer consumption is forecast at 28 litres, up from 18 litres in 2006.

Its production capacity grew 16 percent in both 2005 and 2006. Its 2006 gross profit rose 7 percent from 2005 to 1.3 trillion dong while revenues rose 22 percent to 8.5 trillion dong, state media have said.

The Ho Chi Minh City stock index rose only 23.3 percent last year after a surge of 144.5 percent in 2006.

The market's capitalisation was $22.8 billion at the end of last year, nearly three times more than the over-the-counter Hanoi stock market's $8 billion.

Market regulators aim to boost the country's stock market value to between 50 percent and 60 percent of gross domestic product this year from 43.4 percent in 2007, when the GDP grew 8.48 percent to $71 billion. ($1=16,112 dong) (Editing by Michael Battye)