After delays, local banks eye listing

Nam A Bank plans to list on the bourse in 2019. - Photo Nam A Bank

Among a dozen banks that aimed to list on the bourse last year, only three – Techcombank, HDBank and TPBank – have so far listed shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE).

Tran Ngoc Tam, general director of Nam A Bank, said his bank would surely list on HoSE this year, adding the bank would invite investors, mainly foreign ones, to pour capital into the bank after its 2019 annual general meeting (AGM) due in April.

Nam A Bank’s AGM last year approved plans to register and list shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), but the plan has not been completed.

Tam believed the bank’s listing plan would go ahead this year thanks to its good performance.

According to Tam, credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service last month assigned its first ratings and assessment for Nam A Bank, giving it a B2 stable outlook.

Besides, he said, Nam A Bank has so far basically met the State Bank of Viet Nam’s regulations on risk governance, which would enable the bank to apply Basel II standards earlier than regulated.

“These are favourable foundations for Nam A Bank to list on HoSE," Tam said.

Leaders of OCB have also expressed high hopes for listing this year, having cleared all its bad debts kept at the Vietnam Asset Management Company and performed well overall last year.

Additionally, MSB expects to fulfil the listing plan in the first quarter of this year after posting profits of more than VND1 trillion, more than five times higher than the plan, while bad debts were under good control.

In 2019, other banks, such as VIB and LienVietPostBank, also plan to move from UPCoM to HoSE to make their shares more attractive to investors.

According to banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu, for banks it is very important to determine a favourable time to list on the stock exchange when stock prices and financial reports are good.

Hieu forecast it would be more difficult for banks to list shares on the bourse this year as the market is in an unpredictable period, affecting stock prices.