Agribank divests OCB

Agribank is about to report the highest profit growth of its history, yet customers fear impending bankruptcy

Accordingly, Agribank will publicly offer to sell 468,446 shares, representing 0.07 per cent of the total issued shares of OCB. The initial offering price is VND18,130 ($0.788) per share.

The starting price was determined based on Valuation Certificate No. 9051 issued on September 5, 2018 by Vietnam Valuation and Finance Consultancy company (VVFC) (formerly Vietnam valuation centre – the Ministry of Finance) and Decision No. 1120 dated October 24, 2018 of the Agribank Member Council.

The auctioning organisation is Agribank Securities Joint Stock Corporation (Agriseco), one of the subsidiaries of Agribank. The auction is scheduled to take place at 9:00 am on November 29, 2018 at Agriseco.

Besides Agribank, on September 6, 2018, Vietcombank withdrew its capital from OCB by successfully auctioning off more than 1.47 million shares at the starting price of VND18,876 ($0.82) per share. With the average bidding price of VND20,501 ($0.87) per share, Vietcombank collected over VND30.2 billion ($1.3 million) in proceeds.

Before “saying goodbye” to OCB, Agribank also announced selling 5.29 million shares of Vietnam Agriculture Tourism Trading Joint-Stock Company (Agritour) which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agribank. With the starting price of VND17,100 ($0.74) per share, Agribank earned VND90.5 billion ($3.93 million) on the sale, fully divesting the company.

In addition, Agribank is in the process of implementing its Strategic Business Plan for 2016-2020 with a vision to 2030 and is implementing the second phase of restructuring to prepare for equitisation under the directions of government. Since 2014, Agribank has successfully withdrawn from seven enterprises, earning over VND1 trillion ($43.48 million) in the process.

According to its financial statement, as of October 31, Agribank’s pre-tax profit exceeded VND6 trillion ($260.87 million). This year, Agribank is expected to report the highest growth rate in profit in its entire history.

However, the bankruptcy of Agribank Financial Leasing Company No.2 (ALC II) and the recent arrest of Le Bach Hong (former general director of Vietnam Social Security) for intentional violations of state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences for Vietnam Social Security and ALC II make Agribank customers worried that the institution might go bankrupt, initiating a wave of withdrawals.