VietinBank plans to offload $249 mln debt in shipbuilding firm Nosco Shipyard

VietinBank's Dong Da branch in Hanoi plans to auction a debt of VND5.85 trillion ($249.3 million) in Vietnamese shipbuilding company Nosco Shipyard JSC on June 7, 2023.

State-controlled VietinBank, one of the “Big 4” banks in Vietnam, plans a starting price of VND2.9 trillion ($123.3 million), equal to 49% of the debt's value. Deposits are required to be 20% of the starting price, equivalent to VND579 billion ($24.66 million).

The auction will include the entire value of the debt (principal and interest) arising under credit contracts signed between Nosco ShipYard JSC (formerly known as Nosco Ship Repair Joint Stock Company - Vinalines) and branches of VietinBank including Dong Da, VietinBank Quang Trung, VietinBank Hoang Mai, VietinBank Quang Minh, VietinBank Hung Yen, VietinBank Bac Hung Yen, and VietinBank Bai Chay.

In 2009, Vietinbank signed a contract to finance nearly VND2 trillion ($85.2 million) for Nosco Shipyard to build in the first phase of a shipyard.

Nosco Shipyard, established in 2009, operates in the fields of shipbuilding, ship repairs and steel structure fabrication. It is an associate firm of Oriental Shipping And Trading JSC - Nosco (NOS), which holds a 21.26% stake.

NOS recorded a loss for 11 consecutive years from 2012 to 2022, and the accumulated loss as of December 31, 2022 amounted to VND4.83 trillion ($205.88 million), which led to negative equity of VND4.57 trillion ($194.85 million).

In its 2022 financial report, the auditor emphasized that NOS's ability to continuously operate depended on future profitability and continued investment from its owners.

The main creditors of NOS currently include Agribank, Vietcombank, and SeABank.