Vietcombank aims for 15-percent credit growth

It also plans to cut non-performing loan ratio (NPL) to below 1.5 percent and a rise of 14 percent in total asset.

The targets were announced at the annual shareholders’ meeting of the bank on April 27. 

Vietcombank chairman Nghiem Xuan Thanh also informed the shareholders on plans to add 10 percent to its tier-1 capital in 2018 through issuing shares for foreign investors.

He said the capital raise proposal was approved by the State Bank of Vietnam and the Government in December 2017. The action aims to secure the bank’s capital adequacy ratio of nine percent in accordance with Basel II standards. 

The number of to-be-issued shares would not exceed 10 percent of the bank’s total number of shares, which is now nearly 3.6 billion.

Vietcombank will issue additional shares to a maximum of 10 foreign investors, chairman Thanh said.

Vietcombank general director Pham Quang Dung said the Japanese bank Mizuho, one of the largest shareholders at Vietcombank, would purchase more shares to assure its ownership in the bank at 15 percent.

Some foreign investors had expressed interests in buying Vietcombank shares, Dung said, adding that some of them had offered to purchase all of the bank’s additional shares.

The shareholder meeting adopted the list of the bank’s management board for the 2018-2023 term with eight members. 

Two new members on the board are Truong Gia Binh, chairman of the technology-communications giant FPT Corporation, and Hong Quang, head of the personnel department of Vietcombank. 

The total number of board members at Vietcombank was approved by shareholders to up to 11, meaning there are still three seats left empty at the bank.

Vietcombank also projects its pre-tax profit will rise 14.6 percent year on year to 13 trillion VND from its record-high 11.3 trillion VND made in 2017.