Bao Minh seeks listing on main Vietnam exchange

HANOI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Vietnam insurance firm Bao Minh BMI.HN, of which French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) owns 16.6 percent, plans to move its listing from Hanoi to the main exchange in Ho Chi Minh City .VNI.

Bao Minh, Vietnam's second-largest insurer after Bao Viet, had sought a licence to list its 75.5 million shares in Ho Chi Minh City, the exchange there said in a statement on Wednesday.

Shares in Bao Minh, the Ho Chi Minh City Insurance Corp, rose 0.51 percent to 78,400 dong ($4.87) on Wednesday, valuing it at nearly $370 million, the fourth largest of the 111 companies listed on the over-the-counter Hanoi stock market .HATSCI.

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

If licensed, Bao Minh would join 138 listed firms on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange, where the VN Index edged up 0.65 percent up to 924.37 points on Wednesday.

The market's capitalisation was around $22.8 billion, nearly three times more than the Hanoi market's $8 billion.

State Securities Commission Chairman Vu Bang said Vietnam aimed to raise its stock market value to between 50 percent and 60 percent of gross domestic product in 2008 from less than 30 percent this year. ($1=16,112 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Battye)