Eximbank to pay first dividend in 8 years

Eximbank, with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation a major shareholder, will pay a dividend for the first time in eight years, fuelling hopes the lender is entering a new period after years of shareholder conflict.

The dividend will be paid in shares at the ratio of 20% (one will receive 20 shares for every 100 shares they own) from after-tax profit of the years 2017-2021. Payment is set to complete before the third quarter of this year.

Accordingly, the bank will issue an additional 245.8 million shares to raise its chartered capital to VND14,810 billion ($638 million). This is also the first time in 10 years the bank will expand its chartered capital.

The creditor further approved a plan to issue bonds worth VND5,000 billion via private placement. The bonds are inconvertible and have no voting rights in 2022.

Payment dividend is part of a series of new moves at Eximbank, which has been bogged down by shareholder conflicts over many years.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which holds a 15% stake in Eximbank, recently terminated its strategic partnership with the Vietnamese bank ahead of time, after 14 years of cooperation.

"SMBC has not yet withdrawn its capital and remains a major shareholder in Eximbank. But the corporation already ended the strategic partnership," Eximbank's chairwoman told the lender’s shareholder meeting in late May.

This is Eximbank’s first successful shareholder meeting since 2019, following its arrangement of a new management team and board of directors earlier this year.

The lender planned to double its profit before tax to VND2,500 billion ($107.8 million) in 2022, with total assets climbing by 7.9% to $7.72 billion at the end of the year.