IFC exits Vietnam’s ABBank after 14-year partnership

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private development arm, has divested its entire 8.2% stake in Hanoi-headquartered ABBank after a 14-year strategic partnership.

The IFC sold over 84 million shares in An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank, traded on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), earlier this month under an agreed roadmap, the bank said in a statement.

Exchange data showed that foreign investors unloaded 84.8 million shares, or nearly an 8.2% stake, of the unlisted bank on Wednesday via put-through transactions.

Between Monday and Wednesday, as many as 180.7 million shares, equivalent to 17.4% of ABBank’s charter capital, changed hands.

ABBank shares closed Wednesday down 6.6% at VND8,500 ($0.33) apiece, the lowest market price among publicly-traded banks.

Maybank, Malaysia’s largest bank, remains the biggest foreign shareholder in ABBank with a 16.4% stake.

Vietnam caps aggregate foreign holding in a domestic bank at 30%.

During the decade-long partnership, the IFC supported ABBank in a wide range of fields such as funding, commercial guarantees, advisory, and applying international practices, the bank said in the statement, adding that the divestment was part of the IFC’s role of assisting businesses in Vietnam.

The bank will continue to look for foreign capital when a good opportunity appears, it noted.

In Q1/2024, ABBank earned a pre-tax profit of VND192 billion ($7.54 million), plunging 69% year-on-year. Its total assets decreased 11% from end-2023 to VND144.8 trillion.

For this year, it aims to make a pre-tax profit of VND1 trillion ($39.3 million), nearly doubling that of 2023.