Vietinbank on Oct.10 agreed to sell a 10-percent stake in the firm to International Finance Corporation (IFC) for 190 million USD. The deal makes Vietinbank the first partly equitised State-owned bank to become part-owned by a foreign strategic investor. It made its initial public offering 22 months ago.

The price was set by the Government, the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam.

IFC will support Vietinbank with technologies, international business development and management.

Vietnam's largest partly-private lender announced on Oct. 10 its total assets at the end of August had risen nearly 30 percent from the end of 2009 to 320 trillion VND (16.41 billion USD).

In the first eight months of this year, the Hanoi-based lender raised more than 290 trillion VND in deposits and lent 199.5 trillion VND. Its bad debt stood at 1.05 percent of all loans, below an annual target of 2.5 percent for 2010.

The bank plans to pay a dividend of 20 percent of its shares' face value of 10,000 VND for 2010, higher than its initial target of around 15 percent, the statement said, without giving profit figures for the eight-month period.

Vietinbank expects to increase its charter capital to 23 trillion VND (1.18 billion USD) by the end of the year, and the figure is slated to reach 35 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) next year.

"By helping Vietinbank build up its capacity and strengthen its products and services, IFC will assist the bank in reaching more small – and medium-sized enterprises through its nationwide network," said Simon Andrews, IFC regional manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

"The proposed engagement will help Vietinbank further develop as a leading SME and underlines IFC's support for the Government's equitisation programme in the financial and banking sectors."

The Hanoi-based bank also plans to sell a stake of 15 percent to Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia to raise its registered capital by 35 percent to 15.1 trillion VND. The deal is expected to be finalised in December.

Shares of Vietinbank (coded CTG on the HCM Stock Exchange) closed at 18,700 VND per share on Oct.8.

Vietinbank went public in December 2007, becoming the first State-owned bank to do so.

However, it has struggled to find a foreign strategic investor./.