“When we were building the book value for VPBank’s shares, we
recognised that foreign investors were willing to pay even higher at 44,000 VND
per share,” he said, referring to the fact that VPBank was quite attractive to
foreign investors at the moment.
The bank was valued at least 2 billion USD when valuation of the
bank’s shares started in March 2016, Hai added. It was also the time when the
benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was around 600 points. The bank is
now valued at 2.3 billion USD on the starting trade price of 39,000 VND per
share, making it one of the top 10 listed firms by market capitalisation.
The share price of 39,000 VND was decided by the market demand,
not by VPBank and VCSC, he said, adding that VPBank’s shares had more room to
grow.
“The gap between large-cap and small-cap banks is getting wider.
In the next four to five years, there will be banks whose market capitalisation
reaches more than 10 billion USD, and VPBank could be among them.”
According to Nguyen Duc Vinh, general director of VPBank, there
were two reasons that made the bank’s board managers decide to put its shares
on the stock exchange.
Firstly, VPBank is in the final year of its five-year development
stage from 2012 to 2017, and it has reached its pre-set targets. The bank’s
profits have kept risen year on year with 2016 profit five-folding 2012 number.
Its achievements have brought benefits to both shareholders and
customers, raising its market status to one of the best-performing banks in the
banking system. The management board has met to review its old business
strategy and come up with a new one for the next three to five years.
Secondly, the plan will help the bank develop its business on
high-quality and specialised products and services, generating additional
values for its employees, investors and the society.
By listing its shares on the stock market, the bank hopes to draw
more investment from those that have financial strength, professional knowledge
and skills, and make great contribution to its development.
In the past seven months of 2017, VPBank posted 2.34 trillion VND
in pre-tax profit, a yearly increase of 107 percent, and a total asset of
nearly 254 trillion VND.-VNA