|
Vietcombank plans to list by April ‘regardless’ of stock market
Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, the first state-owned lender to equitize, plans to start trading by the end of the first quarter no matter how the stock market performs.
Vietnam's third-biggest bank, known as Vietcombank, twice delayed a Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange listing even as the benchmark VN-Index fell 60 percent this year.
The bank on June 18 delayed its listing plan until the end of September, citing the slump in the stock market at that time. But it was again delayed, with Nguyen Van Phuong, chief administrator of the board of directors in Hanoi, saying the auditing process took longer than expected.
The government raised last December VND10.5 trillion (US$630 million) selling a 6.5 percent stake in the Hanoi-based bank.
“We hope to list by April, regardless of whether the stock market drops or not,” Phuong said.
“We have made a commitment to our shareholders on listing, so we will go ahead with the plan.”
Vietcombank submitted a listing application to the central bank on October 10 seeking the governor's approval, Phuong said in a telephone interview.
The bank would then apply to the exchange in HCMC for final authorization, he said.
Thanhnien
|
