The charter capital of Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) has increased by 3 per cent to VND37.1 trillion (US$1.6 billion) after it sold selling shares to strategic investors Singaporean investment fund GIC Private Limited (GIC) and Japan’s Mizuho Bank.

Vietcombank on Monday said Mizuho had completed the transfer to buy more than 16 million shares to increase its holding to 15 per cent.

Earlier, GIC bought 94 million shares to maintain its holding at 2.55 per cent.

The bank completed the first share sale to foreign investors after receiving approval from the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) on December 27, 2018.

After completing the sale, the shares will not be transferable for one year.

With the sale, Vietcombank will meet a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of at least 8 per cent as per the SBV’s Basel II norms, starting in 2020.

Vietcombank’s pre-tax profit in 2018 hit a record high of VND18 trillion ($773 million), surging 63 per cent against 2017 and recording the highest profit among domestic banks.

Its outstanding loans last year fell 14.9 per cent to more than VND635 trillion, lower than that of 17.2 per cent in 2017.

Vietcombank’s non-performing loans (NPLs) accounted for only 0.97 per cent of outstanding loans by the end of 2018 – the lowest level among local banks – while its retail credit proportion rose from 39.6 per cent in 2017 to 46.2 per cent in 2018.

With impressive results in 2018, Vietcombank has set a profit target of VND20 trillion for 2019. — VNS