Industrial major Gelex raises holding in Vietnam’s Eximbank to 10%

Hanoi-headquartered industrial company Gelex Group has increased its ownership in Eximbank to 10.03% from the earlier 4.9%, enhancing its position as the largest shareholder in the private creditor.

Gelex Group bought 50 million and 39 million EIB shares of Ho Chi Minh City-based Eximbank on August 7 and 8, respectively, raising its holding in the latter to nearly 174.7 million units, the former said in announcements on Monday.

The transactions had been greenlighted by the central bank.

Apart from Gelex Group as sole major shareholder (with 5% or more), Eximbank had three other shareholders with at least 1% stakes as of July 1, 2024. They are VIX Securities (3.58%), Le Thi Mai Loan (1.03%), and Luong Thi Cam Tu (1.12%), according to the bank’s disclosure on August 6. Loan and Tu are members of the bank's board of directors.

Established in 1990, Gelex Group, formerly Electrical Engineering Equipment Joint Stock Corporation, operates mainly in the fields of industrial production (electrical equipment and construction materials), infrastructure (renewable energy, clean water, industrial parks, industrial real estate), and social housing.

It currently owns national brands such as Viglacera, CADIVI electric cables, EMIC electrical measuring equipment, THIBIDI transformers, HEM electric motors, CFT copper wires, among others.

It has also partnered with Singaporean giants such as Sembcorp and Frasers Property.

Gelex claims that it is positioned to become a leading investment group in Vietnam.

Gelex, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as GEX, earned a consolidated net profit of VND958 billion ($38.18 million) on revenue of VND14,910 billion in the first half of the year, up 318.6% and 3.5% year-on-year, respectively, its financial statement shows.

Eximbank made a consolidated net profit of VND1,170 billion ($46.64 million) in the period, up 4.6% year-on-year.

GEX shares were trading at VND21,650 ($0.86) each at 9:23 a.m. on Monday. Shares of Eximbank were trading at VND18,450 each.