Private lender LPBank approves name change, charter capital hike to $1.32 bln

Vietnamese private lender LPBank approved a name change from Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank to Loc Phat Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank at its 2024 AGM on Wednesday.

The abbreviated name in English - LPBank - remains unchanged, the board of directors said, noting that the name change marks a turning point to realize a strategy for strong, effective and comprehensive change, towards the goal of sustainable and prosperous development.

The shareholders passed the 2024 business plan with a pre-tax profit target reaching VND10.5 trillion ($413.3 million), up nearly 50% from 2023. Capital mobilized from individual and institutional customers is estimated to expand 11% to VND317.38 trillion ($12.5 billion), while the bad debt ratio will be kept low.

The meeting also adopted the offering of shares to existing shareholders for a maximum of VND8 trillion, increasing its charter capital to VND33.6 trillion ($1.32 billion). After the issuance, LPBank will be among the group of banks with the highest charter capital in the system.

According to the board of directors, the capital raising aims to help the bank improve its financial capacity, operational scale, competitiveness and technological innovation. It will also create conditions for the lender to continue supporting businesses in particular and the economy in general to restore production and business activities.

The proceeds from the share offering will be used to meet customer needs for rural agricultural development, consumption, trade, processing and manufacturing. LPBank will prioritize loans in green fields such as renewable energy, clean energy, low-carbon production and consumption industries, contributing to sustainable development of the community and the country.

In 2023, LPBank successfully increased its charter capital to VND25.58 trillion (over $1 billion) through issuing shares to pay dividends to existing shareholders at a rate of 19%, and successfully offering shares worth VND5 trillion ($196.8 million) to existing shareholders, lifting its charter capital by nearly 48% compared to 2022.

After the capital increase, LPBank ranked second out of 20 listed banks implementing capital raising in 2023 in terms of growth rate, 10th among 27 listed banks in terms of charter capital, and 11th out of 35 commercial banks in Vietnam.

LPBank is listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as LPB, which closed Wednesday at VND20,100 ($0.79) per share, up 3.34% despite Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index plunging nearly 21 points.