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Banking stocks climb on listing plans
Share prices of some commercial banks have risen in over-the-counter trading (OTC) after they announced last week they were mulling listing on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.
Eximbank shares changed hands at VND26,500 ((US$1.55) last Saturday, up 6 percent from a week earlier. Meanwhile, Military Bank shares were at VND30,600 ($1.78), compared with VND29,000 last Monday.
Brokers at Viet Dragon Securities Corp. said they mainly dealt with Eximbank shares on Saturday as the news that the lender is seeking opinions from shareholders on listing made its stock “hot” on the OTC market.
Vu Van Ha, Deputy Head of Investment at Au Viet Securities, said, “Many investors believe that Eximbank will be listed at the beginning of the final quarter, so they are buying its shares heavily.”
He said while investors are also interested in other banking stocks, thanks to listing plans, they are more cautious as the banks did not announce the plans as elaborately as Eximbank.
Last Tuesday, Tran Dac Sinh, General Director of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, told Saigon Times Online that at least three lenders, Eximbank, Military Bank, and Saigon Commercial Bank, are preparing to list.
Eximbank, 15 percent owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, has a registered capital of
VND7.2 trillion ($421 million). In June, it received approval from the central bank to increase the sum to VND8.8 trillion ($514 million) by issuing 158 million shares to existing shareholders.
Military Bank has VND3.8 trillion ($222 million) in charter capital while Saigon Commercial Bank has VND3.6 trillion.
Currently, there are three banks listed on Ho Chi Minh City bourse: Vietcombank, VietinBank, and Sacombank while there are two lenders listed in Hanoi: Asia Commercial Bank and Saigon-Hanoi Joint-Stock Commercial Bank.
Hung, an investor at Bao Viet Secirities, said soon-to-be-listed shares are investors’ favorite as their liquidity will typically rocket once they are traded on the bourse.
Truong Duy Khiem, Director of ACB Securities’ Le Ngo Cat branch, agreed, saying both liquidity and information transparency would increase once a company floats its shares on the exchange.
But he warned investors should not be over-optimistic and expect too much of a price hike on listings.
Instead, investors should consider the company’s financial figures such as earnings per share ratio this year and expected ratios in the coming years before investing in its shares, he said.
Mai Phuong
thanhnien
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