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Wednesday November 1, 6:45 PMVietnam's ACB bank sets share debut in November(Updates with foreign investors paragraphs 15, 17)By Ho Binh Minh HANOI, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Vietnam's fifth-largest bank by assets, said on Wednesday it has won a licence to list shares, becoming the second domestic bank to join the country's stock market after Sacombank . ACB listing will nearly double the value of the Hanoi over-the-counter market where it would make its share debut. "It is our plan to make the debut within November," Nguyen Thanh Toai, Deputy General Director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank told Reuters. ACB will list all of its 110,004,656 shares with face value of 10,000 dong on the Hanoi OTC market , the market authority said in a directive seen by Reuters. ACB is the 21st company whose shares have been accepted for trading on the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre, the directive said. Last week, ACB shares eased to 10.6-10.8 million dong ($660-673) each on the unofficial markets, from 14.5 million dong a month ago. With a market value of nearly $740 million, the ACB listing would raise the Hanoi OTC market capitalisation to $1.5 billion. The Hanoi market, launched in March 2005, now has 16 stocks with a capitalisation of $773 million. In recent weeks, the OTC has approved the listing of four more companies. TAX RELIEF Investors had expected that ACB shares would trade on Vietnam's main bourse in Ho Chi Minh City. But Toai said: "It is easier to get the listing procedures completed with the Hanoi market." Last month, he was quoted by state media as saying ACB wanted a listing before the year end to enjoy the 50-percent corporate tax reduction the government granted to listed firms for two years since their debut. The government has announced the tax relief will expire from Jan. 1, 2007, a move that has prompted at least two dozen companies to seek listing licences from the State Securities Commission. ACB's assets have risen 55.9 percent from end of 2005 to 38.04 trillion dong ($2.4 billion) now. It is the biggest bank by assets among Vietnam's more than 30 part-private banks. ACB has forecast its assets will rise to 41 trillion dong by the end of this year. FOREIGN OWNERSHIP AT LIMIT Foreigners are not allowed to buy ACB as the bank said stakes held by its foreign partners have reached the 30 percent ceiling. Last year, UK-based Standard Chartered Plc. paid $22 million to buy an 8.56 percent stake in ACB. ACB said Connaught Investors under Jardine Matheson Group, Dragon Financial Holdings Ltd., World Bank's IFC and StandChart hold a combined 30 percent of the bank. Vietnam curbs the foreign ownership in a listed bank at 30 percent, with an individual investor allowed a maximum 10 percent of the bank. In July, shares of Sacombank, Vietnam's second-largest part-private bank, began trading on the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center , Asia's fastest growing exchange this year. The VN Index gained 1.92 percent to close at 521.38 points on Wednesday, having risen 69.6 percent so far this year. The 6-year-old market has 52 companies and a capitalisation of $3.2 billion. For ACB's latest business results, double-click on [ID:nHAN298695]. ($1=16,047 dong) |
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