Saigon Thuong Tin Joint Stock Bank ( Sacombank) has become the first bank in Vietnam being licensed to list shares on the Vietnamese stock market.

"The State Securities Commission on June 2 licensed us to list shares on the stock market. On the same day, we were licensed to issue additional shares. We plan to start listing in mid-July, becoming the first listed bank in Vietnam," a senior official of the Sacombank told Xinhua on Wednesday, asking not to be named.

According to the two licenses, the Sacombank will list 189,947, 299 shares with face value of 10,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) (0.6 U. S. dollars), and issue 30,052,701 additional shares with the same face value. Of the new shares, expected to be issued in mid-August, 10,052,701 will be designated for the Sacombank's strategic partners, and 20 million auctioned publicly.

"We issue new shares to mobilize capital for expanding branch networks, establishing affiliates and joint ventures, renovating banking technologies, developing manpower training, promoting products and services, and enhancing financial capacity," the official said, noting that the bank's total asset and profit in 2005 stood at 14,456 billion VND (nearly 909.2 million dollars) and 306 billion VND (19.2 million dollars), respectively, up seven times over 2000 in terms of asset, and 54.5 percent against 2004 in terms of profit.

The Sacombank, currently having chartered capital of 1,899 billion VND (119.4 million dollars) and 118 branches and transaction offices nationwide, is expected to post profits of 250 billion VND (15.7 million dollars) in the first half of this year, the official said.

Now, Vietnam has 36 kinds of listed shares, 366 kinds of listed bonds, mostly government bonds, and 1 listed investment fund, with combined face value of nearly 56,097 billion VND (3.528 billion dollars), according to the State Securities Commission.

Source: Xinhua