So far, banks have basically completed 2018 annual general meeting (AGM). Apart from raising capital, listing on the bourse, while many banks pay more to shareholders, some other banks still say no to dividend.
At Military Joint Stock Commercial Bank (MBBank), if in the previous years, the bonus share to shareholders was 5-11 percent/annum, then in this year, besides the dividend payment at 11 percent (six percent in cash and five percent in shares), the bank also issued bonus shares at 14 percent. As such, MBBank’s total bonus rate reached 25 percent, the highest level ever.
Meanwhile, Vietcombank submitted to shareholders 2017 after-tax distribution method. Accordingly, with 8.849 trillion dong after-tax profit in 2017, apart from making provision for funds, remuneration payment, etc. equal to 2/3 of the profit allowed to be distributed. The remaining 2.878 trillion dong is paid in cash (at eight percent) to shareholders.
For VIB, the bonus payment to shareholders in 2017 included five percent in cash and 31 percent in shares. For LienVietPostBank, the dividend pay-out ratio surged to 15 percent, up from the 10 percent last year.
At Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), the 2017 dividend payment was 15 percent, higher than the 2016 at 10 percent. With “huge” profit target in 2017, which doubles from 2017, reaching 5.699 trillion dong pre-tax profit, ACB plans to raise 2018 dividend payment rate to 30 percent.
Tien Phong Bank (TPBank) revealed that apart from listing on the bourse, offering to sell 15 percent stake to investors, the bank plans to make dividend payment and bonus shares at 28 percent in this year. Last year, this bank did not make any dividend payment to shareholders but asked to retain to offset the negative equity surplus.
Not only large-scale, medium-scale banks but smaller-scale ones such as OCB also had rather high dividend payment ratio in this year with the ratio of 14.2 percent. At the meeting, Nam A Bank approved 2017 profit distribution method with the dividend payment rate of 11 percent along with many other important policies for 2018 such as chartered capital increase, listing, etc.
On the contrary, some banks continued to pay no dividend. With huge profit of more than nine trillion dong, Techcombank decides to continue maintaining no-dividend payment policy for eight consecutive years to reserve resources for raising capital scale, serving the strategy on strengthening business growth and improving safety ratios, financial health.
Meanwhile, at banks that are restructuring such as Sacombank and Eximbank, the no dividend payment continues to be considered as vital. Accordingly, at Sacombank’s AGM, Duong Cong Minh said the bank would ask the State Bank for its approval of the amendment of restructuring plan and at the end of this year or latest in 2019, the bank would use part of the attained profit to make dividend payment to shareholders.
For Eximbank, though the pre-tax profit in 2017 was more than one trillion dong, due to having to settle accumulated losses from the previous years, not much profit remained, so no dividend is paid. According to Eximbank’s restructuring scheme, it is until 2019 the bank will complete handling debts sold to the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC). Only by then, can the bank make sustainable dividend payment.
