An Eximbank transaction counter. The bank plans to buy back nearly 62 million shares. — Photo soha.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Eximbank planned to buy back nearly 61.78 million shares, equivalent to 5 per cent of its total common shares, bank chairman Le Hung Dung said on Tuesday.

The bank would use capital from its share holdings, development reserves and undistributed profits for the repurchase. It has authorised Viet Dragon Securities Co as an agent for share trading.

Dung said the bank was waiting for a response from the State Securities Commission to fix the time for the transactions, adding that it would hold the repurchased shares for six months to five years.

Eximbank shares are being traded at about VND13,500 (US$0.65) per share on the HCM City bourse. This means the bank is expected to spend VND830 billion ($39.52 million) on the re-acquisition.

The bank has not yet announced third-quarter business results, but a recent Bao Viet Securities Co report estimated its pre-tax profits would be about VND447 billion ($21.28 million), a 21 per cent decline over the same period last year.

The report said Eximbank had stable asset quality and a high capital security level, and its lending situation was expected to improve with accelaration in loans for importers/exporters, small traders and individual customers.

Recent changes in key personnel, an increase of Eximbank equity in Sacombank to more than 10 per cent, plus large put-through transactions carried out in September, could affect management and business plans. The report added that this was an unknown that required investor attention.

Bad debts were estimated to account for 1.56 per cent of Eximbank's total outstanding loans at the end of Q3, according to the brokerage. ― VNS