Vietcombank refused charter lift

The State Bank of Viet Nam once again yesterday, February 8, denied Vietcombank’s application to increase its charter capital, despite a profit in 2009 . . .

Under a proposal approved by Vietcombank shareholders last November, the bank had sought approval to increase its charter capital from the current VND12.1 trillion ($672.2 million) to VND13.2 trillion ($734.6 million).

“The State Bank has given us many reason for refusing our charter capital plan,” a senior Vietcombank official told Viet Nam News on condition of anonymity.

Under Official Document No 2307 sent by the State Bank’s Ha Noi branch to Vietcombank last December 16, one of the reasons for the denial is that Vietcombank has not yet found a foreign strategic investor.

“We has done everything required under Government Decision No 109 about equitisation,” said the Vietcombank official. “Seeking a foreign strategic investor is not related to a plan to raise charter capital.”

Hong Ngoc, an official from the bank’s financial institutions department, said Vietcombank had about 120 agents all over the world but that “seeking foreign investors at this time was not easy.”

Meanwhile, Vietcombank had a plan to issue additional shares to raise capital and had also planned to spend VND500 billion ($27.7 million) to promote sources of credit and another VND323 billion ($17.9 million) to enhance infrastructure and improve human resources.

Vietcombank earned VND5.15 trillion ($278.38 million) in 2009, up 46.2 per cent from 2008, and posted a profit of VND5.5 trillion ($297.3 million). Credit grew by 25.9 per cent during the year. As of December 31, the bank had a bad debt rate of just 2.54 per cent, while total deposits reached VND255.9 trillion ($13.8 billion), up 16.4 per cent from the previous year.

The Ha Noi-based bank was the first State-owned bank to equitise, making its initial public offering (IPO) on December 26, 2007. At that time, Vietcombank sold 97.5 million shares at an average price of VND107,860 ($6.70) per share. The shares sold in the IPO, however, represented only 6.5 per cent of the equity in the bank.

The bank has spent the last two years searching for foreign strategic investors, after which it would list shares on the stock exchange.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

 

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Tags: Per Cent, The Bank

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