OCB officially goes public on HSX

January 31, 2021 | 17:29

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Saigon-based commercial bank Orient Commercial Bank (OCB) officially went public on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX) on January 28, also being the first bank stock to be listed this year.

The reference price on the first trading day of OCB was VND22,900 (99 US cents) per share – quite an attractive price.

ocb officially went public on ho chi minh stock exchange

OCB went public on the HSX on January 28, 2021

Trinh Van Tuan, chairman of OCB’s board, said: “OCB’s official listing on the HSX marks a very important milestone for the bank as part of our development roadmap. With the aim of mobilising capital to ensure financial capacity for a new growth phase, we believe OCB’s initial public offering would significantly enhance the transparency, liquidity, and also bring maximum benefits to shareholders.”

Sharing the strategy for the next 5-year period (2021-2025), the OCB chairman expected the bank to maintain a stable growth rate, with total assets and charter capital increasing from 20 to 25 per cent, annually.

"In the future, we will ramp up our main focus on selected customer segments, maintain sustainable growth in the leading banking group in Vietnam, improve asset quality through a risk management system according to international standards, and optimise digital banking-related services in a bid to drive growth and efficiency,” Tuan added.

In 2020, Japan’s Aozora Bank decided to acquire a 15 per cent stake in OCB in a deal worth $139 million. This was the first M&A deal by Aozora in a foreign market since 2001 and made Aozora OCB’s largest shareholder.

It also was one of the 10 eye-catching M&A deals in the 2019-2020 period, according to VIR.

However, the very first day of going public was not as rosy as expected. The frenzy of broad-based sell-off in Vietnam’s stock market has considerably hampered OCB’s share price, down to VND18,350 (80 US cents) per share. However, experts believe with the bank’s ample fundamentals and potential, OCB will attract the attention of foreign and local investors alike.

By Luu Huong

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