Vietnam Bao Minh says '07 revenues to rise 12 pct

HANOI, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Vietnamese insurance firm Bao Minh BMI.HN, of which French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) owns 16.6 percent, said revenues this year would rise 12 percent to 1.65 trillion dong ($102 million), above its initial target.

"Bao Minh has won tenders to insure many major projects such as ship building and construction deals and also stepped up in providing new services to partners," President and Chief Executive Tran Vinh Duc said in a statement seen on Friday.

Bao Minh, or the Ho Chi Minh City Insurance Corp, would make a profit of 150 billion dong this year, 36 percent above its annual target, the company said in a separate statement. It did not make clear if the figure was pre-tax or net profit.

In April, Duc said Bao Minh expected a 9.5-percent rise in this year's revenues.

Shares in Bao Minh firmed 0.89 percent to 79,000 dong ($4.9) at 0331 GMT on Friday, valuing the firm at $372 million, the fourth-largest of the 111 firms listed on the over-the-counter Hanoi stock market .HATSCI.

Bao Minh, Vietnam's second-largest insurer after Bao Viet, plans to move its listing of 75.5 million shares from Hanoi to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange .VNI, the latter exchange said on Wednesday.

Bao Minh has 21 percent of Vietnam's non-life insurance market. Industry figures suggest the revenues of the country's non-life insurance sector will jump nearly 30 percent to 8.35 trillion dong ($518 million) this year.

If licensed, Bao Minh will join 138 listed firms on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange, where the VN Index was up 0.57 percent at 927.02 points at 0335 GMT on Friday.

The market's capitalisation stood at $22.7 billion, nearly three times more than the Hanoi market's $8 billion. ($1=16,111 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh, Editing by Ed Cropley)