Vietcombank sold all 1.47 million shares of Orient Commercial Bank (OCB) at an auction on Thursday.

According to the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, two individual investors bought the shares at a total cost of more than VND30 billion (US$1.27 million).

The winning price averaged VND20,501 per share, of which the highest winning price was VND22,200 and the lowest was VND20,500. The price was higher than the starting price of VND18,876 set by Vietcombank, but some 20 per cent lower than a sale in April this year.

In April, Vietcombank also sold 6.67 million OCB shares to 128 investors at an average price of VND25,771 per share, compared with the starting price of VND13,000 set by Vietcombank, helping the bank earn VND171.96 billion.

Offloading holdings at OCB is one of Vietcombank’s moves to comply with the central bank’s Circular 36, which allows commercial banks to hold shares in a maximum of two other credit institutions, with the stake in each not exceeding 5 per cent of the total equity of that institution.

Apart from OCB, Vietcombank also plans to divest from Eximbank and Military Bank, where it holds stakes of 8.19 per cent and 6.97 per cent, respectively.

The northern bourse said OCB’s charter capital had reached VND5 trillion, with more than 122 branches and transaction offices nationwide.

OCB reported impressive business performance in the first half of this year with pre-tax profit of more than VND1.3 trillion, rising 163.5 per cent year-on-year and meeting 65 per cent of the bank’s target set for 2018.

OCB plans to list 750 million shares on the HCM Stock Exchange during the late third quarter or early fourth quarter to increase in the bank’s market capitalisation to $1 billion. — VNS