Hoa Lam Group ecosystem holds 21.45% stake in private lender VietBank

The presence of motorbike maker Hoa Lam Group surrounding private lender VietBank is palpable, despite the fact it is not a major shareholder.

Instead, it is connected through a number of legal entities and individuals, notably the family of chairman Duong Nhat Nguyen.

In March 2024, Nguyen exercised his right to buy 4,770,336 shares in VietBank, registered on the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM) as VBB, to increase his overall stake to 4.83%. In total, Nguyen and his family now own 67,940,608 shares, or 11.75%.

Nguyen is the son of businessman Duong Ngoc Hoa and his wife, Tran Thi Lam, who was deputy general director of VietBank until her dismissal in March 2024. The couple founded Hoa Lam Group in 1993, specializing in manufacturing motorbikes and scooters.

The group has engaged in the financial sector through investment in VietBank since 2006, and has continued to expand into the fields of healthcare, lottery (Vietlott), real estate, and education.

Another board member is Quach To Dung, who is directly connected with two units: Vu Quang Dung Co., Ltd. and Sy Phat Co., Ltd., which own 4.95% and 4.75% of VietBank’s charter capital, respectively.

Dung has links to Hoa Lam Group as she was chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City-based City International Hospital Company Limited from April 2018 to February 2022 - a legal entity related to Hoa Lam Group.

Since February 2022, she has been a board member of Hoa Lam Shangri-la Medical Company Limited and the legal representative of Vietbank's capital contribution in this unit. Hoa Lam Shangri-la Medical is also a legal entity in the same group as City International Hospital.

Legal entities and individuals related to Hoa Lam Group currently hold 21.45% of VietBank's charter capital. However, the actual ownership figure may be much larger as the bank's AGM always records a very concentrated participation rate.

For example, the 2024 AGM saw the presence of 31 representatives, corresponding to 89.19% of the total number of voting shares. Previous AGMs also recorded very high attendance rates, with nearly 90%.

The influence of Hoa Lam Group over VietBank is reflected via not only the shareholder structure or the role of senior leadership, but also a series of credits that VietBank has granted to units related to Hoa Lam Group.

Many legal and natural entities of Hoa Lam Group have borrowed more than trillions of VND (VND1 trillion = $39.34 million) from VietBank, with plots of land used as collateral in Binh Tri Dong B ward, Binh Tan district, HCMC owned by City International Hospital Co., Ltd. and Hoa Lam Shangri-La Medical Co., Ltd.

Many of them are "familiar" names that have connections with Hoa Lam Group, such as Cello Land Company Limited, Gia An 115 Hospital Company Limited, and Thanh Dong Do Real Estate Company Limited.

Furthermore, VietBank, together with Vietnam International Securities JSC (VIS), also participated in arranging bond packages issued by legal entities linked to Hoa Lam Group.

They include a batch of bonds worth VND250 billion ($9.83 million) from Thanh Dong Do Real Estate Co., Ltd. (issued on September 30, 2021) with 10-year terms and a first-year interest rate of 10%. It aims to serve business cooperation and increase the working capital of Gia An 115 Hospital Co., Ltd. This package was fully redeemed by the issuer on August 15, 2023.

There is also VND770 billion ($30.29 million) in bonds from Dien Phat Land Co., Ltd. (issued in July 2020), with 5-year terms and fixed interest of 10% for the first year. All the bonds were bought back by Dien Phat Land before maturity on March 23, 2023.

In addition, another bond package worth VND572 billion ($22.5 million) was issued by Minh Khang Dien Co., Ltd. on October 29, 2020 with a term of 5 years. The collateral was the land use rights to a plot of land in Binh Tri Dong B ward, Binh Tan district, HCMC. This bond batch was also redeemed on March 23, 2023.

VietBank’s business performance

In the first quarter of 2024, VietBank’s after-tax profit was VND57.4 billion ($2.26 million), a sharp year-on-year decrease of 64%, as net interest income reached nearly VND450 billion ($17.69 million), down 6% over the same period due to falling interbank interest rates.

In addition, VietBank's operating costs increased by 7% compared to Q1/2023 to nearly VND350 billion ($13.76 million) due to increased deposit insurance and asset investment costs. Its credit risk provision also expanded 4.3 times year-on-year to more than VND90 billion ($3.54 million) due to an increased loan balance in the quarter.

The bank’s total assets as of March 31, 2024 had reached nearly VND138,858 billion ($5.46 billion), almost flat compared to the beginning of the year. Of which, personal loans were VND81,488 billion, a slight increase of 1% from the beginning of the year, and personal deposits stood at nearly VND93,437 billion, up 4%.

VietBank's total bad debt at the end of the first quarter of 2024 was more than VND2,524 billion ($99.22 million), a surge of 22% compared to the beginning of the year. Its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio rose from 2.56% at the beginning of the year to 3.1% at the end of the first quarter.

VietBank shareholders at the 2024 AGM approved a prudent business plan with a pre-tax profit target of VND1,050 billion ($41.28 million), a year-on-year increase of 29%. The bank aims to control the NPL ratio below or equal to 2.5%, as compared to the mandated level of 3% set by the State Bank of Vietnam.

However, at the end of the first quarter, VietBank had completed less than 7% of its yearly profit plan. Meanwhile, the bad debt ratio had also exceeded the target.