Vinare to issue new shares

National Re-Insurance Corporation (VNR, Vinare), Vietnam's top re-insurer, said on Wednesday it would issue 40.7 million new shares this year to finance investment projects, including stakes in two new banks.

The issue would more than double Vinare's registered capital to 750 billion dong ($46.6 million), Vinare chairman Trinh Quang Tuyen said in a statement issued through the Hanoi stock market.

He did not say how much the firm aimed to raise in the issue, but said Vinare needed to invest around 1.6 trillion dong ($99 million) in a number of projects this year.

Shares in Vinare closed down 0.6% on Wednesday at 99,400 dong ($6.2) with just 9,600 shares changing hands.

The Hanoi-based firm would issue 13.72 million new shares to existing shareholders under a 4-for-1 scheme in June or July, Tuyen said in the statement.

Vinare would auction 12.58 million shares to the public at the Hanoi market in June or July, depending on a State Securities Commission permit.

It would negotiate to sell a further 12.75 million shares to domestic and foreign strategic investors before the end of the year and employees would also be able to buy 1.65 million shares.

Vinare would use up to 800 billion dong ($49.7 million) of the proceeds to boost finance to take more re-insurance orders from companies in Vietnam and abroad, Tuyen said.

t would contribute 60 billion dong to the formation of the Bao Viet and FPT banks due to be opened this year.

Vinare would also spend 200 billion dong ($12.4 million) to increase its stakes in five domestic insurance firms and a joint venture late this year or early 2008, the statement said.

It would also participate in forming non-life insurance firms in 2007 and 2008, contributing 200 billion dong.

Vinare's shares were listed on the Hanoi stock market in March 2006. The firm, which used to provide the only access to international re-insurance for Vietnamese insurers, still maintains a leading role in the sector.

Source: Reuters