The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has just allowed Maritime Bank (MSB) to raise its charter capital by more than VND3.5 trillion (US$155 million) from the current level to nearly VND15.3 billion through stock dividends.

Maritime Bank said that the rise was equivalent to 30 per cent of the bank's current capital of VND11.75 trillion. The additional capital would come from the bank’s share issuance to pay dividends.

Accordingly, the bank will issue an additional 352.5 million shares to pay dividends to existing shareholders, raising the total number of outstanding shares to nearly 1.53 billion.

The capital used to pay dividends is sourced from undistributed profit after tax after setting aside funds in 2020. The bank’s consolidated audited financial statement for 2020 showed that the undistributed profit after tax that can be used to pay dividends is up to nearly VND4.8 trillion.

The rise in charter capital is to ensure capital adequacy ratios and risk management to meet Basel II international standards, heading toward Basel III, and to improve financial capacity to meet requirements for business development, investment in strategic projects in the 2021 - 2023 period.

Maritime Bank is expected to finalise the list of shareholders entitled to receive dividends in September and complete the dividend payment this year. — VNS