$75 mln IFC loan reaches SeABank

Vietnamese lender SeABank has received a five-year convertible loan of $75 million from the World Bank’s financial arm IFC to support its growth and increase targeted lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Of the total package, at least $20 million will be earmarked exclusively for on-lending to women-led SMEs, IFC said this July when disclosing the transaction. The entire loan is on IFC’s own account, the firm added.

SeABank had announced in January that the IFC and five international lenders have increased a loan package earlier granted to it from $150 million to $220 million to further support targeted lending to SMEs.

The five lenders are Banque Internationale de Commerce-BRED, Blue Orchard Microfinance Fund, Kasikornbank, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and responsAbility Investments.

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation said this June that it had approved a $200 million loan to SeABank to back SMEs and for climate financing.

SeABank reported pre-tax profits of VND4,016 billion ($166.3 million) in the first nine months of the year, up 58.7% year-on-year and 82% of the year's target.

The Hanoi-headquartered bank recorded net revenues of of nearly VND7,282 billion ($301.5 million) in the period, up 41.5% year-on-year. The private bank's non-interest income reached VND2,205 billion ($91.29 million), up 70%.

SeABank has recently completed raising its charter capital to VND19,809 billion ($820.2 million).