Vietnam's Big 4 lender Vietcombank to issue nearly 2.8 bln shares for dividend payment

Vietcombank will expand its chartered capital from VND55,891 billion to VND83,557 billion ($3.29 billion) via an issuance of shares to pay dividends, becoming the largest bank in Vietnam by chartered capital.

The bank (HoSE:VCB) has just announced the board of directors' resolution on the move under a plan approved by its AGM and competent authorities. The issuance is scheduled for this year.

It will issue shares to pay dividends at the rate of 49.5%. As the bank currently has nearly 5.6 billion outstanding shares, it will issue 2.78 billion shares at par value of VND27,666 billion ($1.09 billion).

The source for dividends will come from the remaining profit after tax and after provisions for funds until the end of 2018 and the remaining profit in 2021.

According to data released at a 2024 review meeting on January 10, 2025, Vietcombank achieved more than VND41,000 billion ($1.62 billion) in pre-tax profit in 2024, almost the same as 2023.

The bank currently has the largest undistributed profit in the Vietnamese banking system with VND102,068 billion ($4.02 billion) as of end-Q3/2024, nearly double its charter capital of VND55,891 billion.

After completing this issuance, Vietcombank will have the largest charter capital in the system, surpassing VPBank.

By December 31, 2024, Vietcombank's total assets had exceeded VND2,000 trillion ($78.81 billion) for the first time, up 13% against end-2023. Total outstanding loans reached over VND1,440 trillion, an increase of nearly 14%.

Wholesale and retail credit went up more than 15% and 12% respectively in 2024 from the previous year. Bad debt ratio was 0.97%.

Vietcombank officially received the compulsory transfer of CBBank in 2024, and is drastically implementing solutions to soon bring this weak bank out of "special control".

The bank is one of the Big 4 banks in Vietnam, together with BIDV, Vietinbank and Agribank.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, VCB shares closed Thursday at VND92,700 ($3.65) apiece.