The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) officially listed over 112 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) on June 30.

The shares, coded VCB, were traded at the ceiling price of 60,000 VND (3.4 USD) per unit on the first trading session.
Vietcombank’s Chairman Nguyen Hoa Binh said, with the listing of 112.3 million shares, his bank wishes to reiterate its commitments to pursuing a more effective and transparent development.

The presence of VCB shares on the HOSE offers investors more choices and fosters the development of the Vietnamese stock market, Binh added.

Vietcombank is the country’s second commercial bank and the 182nd firms that have listed shares on the HOSE.

The bank reported a pre-tax profit of 2.45 trillion VND (some 140 million USD) in the first half of this year, making up 74 percent of the yearly target.

Since it became a joint stock bank in June 2008, with a 90.72 percent stake retained by the State, Vietcombank continues to claim the sector’s number one position with a large market share of deposits, loans, export-import payment services and credit card services. The bank is also a leader in e-banking products and foreign currency transactions.

By mid-June, Vietcombank had raised 158.2 trillion VND, a year-on-year rise of 18.7 percent and its loans amounted to more than 126.8 trillion VND, a year-on-year increase of 14.6 percent.

The bank is also a leader in the international payment market, with a 27 percent market share of export settlements, a 20 percent market share of import settlements and 59.7 percent of the nation’s card market.-Enditem