Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (STB, Sacombank), Vietnam's sixth-largest lender by assets, said it had raised its registered capital by 12 percent as it seeks to grow its business at home and elsewhere in Asia.
The new funds were proceeds from a first share issue as part of a plan to more than double Sacombank's registered capital to 4.45 trillion dong ($276 million) by the end of the year, the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank said in a statement on Thursday.
Sacombank said it had added $15.5 million to its registed capital, which now totalled 2.34 trillion dong from the sale of 25 million shares.
The registered capital determines the size of a bank's loans and deposits.
A total of more than 236 million shares will be sold as part of the bank's capital raising, with proceeds also going to building Sacombank's offices in Ho Chi Minh City, upgrading information technology, opening a credit card business and investing in existing subsidiaries and new subsidiaries.
Listing of the new shares is scheduled for Aug. 23.
Shares in Sacombank, the first listed bank in communist Vietnam, closed flat at 57,000 dong ($3.5) on Thursday, valuing the lender at $738 million, based on the 209 million shares currently on issue.
The World Bank's International Finance Corp., Dragon Capital and ANZ Bank together own 26.3 percent of Sacombank, which is fifth-largest listed firm on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.
Sacombank said last month that strong demand for mortgages helped more than double its pre-tax first half profit from a year earlier to 610 billion dong ($37.8 million).
Sacombank has planned to form a credit card venture with ANZ Bank, open 14 branches in Vietnam this year and also establish offices in China, Laos and Cambodia.
Source: Reuters
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