[THE INVESTOR] HANOI, Vietnam -- LS Cable & System aims to double the sales of LS C&S Asia, which is to be listed in September, the company’s chief said last week.

LS C&S Asia, the holding firm of the Korean cable-maker’s two Vietnamese units LS-VINA and LSCV, is slated to float its shares on South Korea’s main bourse KOSPI in September.

“(Through the listing), LS C&S Asia aims to generate 1 trillion won ($890 million) in sales by 2021,” Myung Roe-hyun, the company’s head, said at a press briefing held in Hanoi on Thursday.

The combined sales of the two Vietnamese arms stood at 498.8 billion won last year.

After floating the shares, the company plans to expand the middle voltage facilities at 66,000 square meters of idle sites at LSCV in Ho Chi Minh City, which is expected to be further industrialized and urbanized, Myung said. He said investment will also be made in industrial specialty cables by 2020, without elaborating further on details.

The chief expressed confidence in achieving the sales target, citing growing demand for power in Vietnam and the region of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“We can achieve the target goal without difficulty considering the similar pattern of South Korea’s past and Vietnam’s current economic growth and power demand,” he said.

When Korea’s economic growth rate was 6 percent in the 1970s, its growth in power demand exceeded 10 percent. Vietnam is currently seeing a 6.5 percent economic growth rate with the power demand growth rate hitting 10 to 12 percent. 

Alongside Vietnam, the company also plans to expand its business into other ASEAN member countries, such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which also annually see rises of more than 6 percent in economic growth.

The chief picked Myanmar as the next business target due to the nation’s rapid economic growth, large population, English fluency and business-friendly policies.

As to why LS C&S lists the holding firm in Korea and not in Vietnam, he cited the Korean stock market’s bigger volume and more transparent accounting transactions.

The Vietnamese stock market is around 5 percent in size compared to Korea’s market worth 1.4 quadrillion won, and is less transparent in accounting transactions, according to the head. 

LS-VINA, which was set up in 1996 in Hai Phong, is producing power cables mainly for the local market. LSCV, which was established in 2006 in Ho Chi Minh City, is producing communications cables and shipping 95 percent of its products to global markets. 

By Shin Ji-hye/Korea Herald correspondent (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)