Viet Nam’s Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC) has offered to sell a complete lot of more than 4 million shares of the Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) on December 23.

The whole batch of shares or 0.34 per cent of the stake of the bank will be offered at a starting price of VND52.4 billion (US$2.27 million), according to the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX).

HNX said both domestic and foreign investors were eligible to participate if they meet DATC's requirements for current ownership ratios to comply with current bank regulations, adding purchasing time would be from December 23 to December 29.

Previously, the MSB board agreed the starting price of shares was VND46.4 billion then they increased to the value to VND52.4 billion or VND13,000 each share.

The bank has been issued a certificate of securities registration by the Vietnam Securities Depository and is completing the listing filing on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HoSE).

In the first nine months, MSB recorded net interest income of VND3.28 trillion and pre-tax profit of more than VND1.66 trillion, up 61 per cent and 56 per cent respectively from the same period last year. With this result, MSB has exceeded 15 per cent of its full-year profit target.

As of September 30, the bank's total assets reached nearly VND166.5 trillion, up 6 per cent compared to the beginning of the year. According to the third quarter 2020 financial report, the bank has settled all issued bonds and had no bad debts at the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC). — VNS