Plans to list shares on the bourse are part of many banks’ business strategies for the year, but analysts doubt the plans will be implemented.
Nearly 981 million HDB shares of HD Bank were put into transaction at the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) on January 5, 2018. With capitalisation value of VND32.4 trillion, or $1.4 billion, HDB was listed among the top 20 with the biggest capitalisation value on the HOSE.
In April 2018, TP Bank listed 555 million TPB shares on HOSE. In early June 2018, also at HOSE, Techcombank listed 1.16 billion TCB shares with capitalisation value of $6.5 billion.
Analysts said that with good 2017 financial reports released in early 2018, the first half of the year was the right time for banks to list shares. They also predicted that the conditions in 2018 would be good for banks to carry out their listing plans.
However, the banks could not list shares in the second half of the year. The VN Index fell to below 1,000 points which had a negative impact on bank shares.
The VN Index decreased by 8.27 points, or 0.92 percent of value, to 892 points at the last trading session of 2018. VN30, the index representing the group of 30 shares with biggest capitalisation value and liquidity on the HOSE, also fell by 10.46 points. Many banks failed to list shares on the bourse as initially planned, namely OCB, SeABank, Bao Viet Bank, Viet A Bank, MSB, Nam A Bank and ABBank.
Nam A Bank got the shareholders’ nod to put its shares into transactions on the UpCom market in 2018. But the plan remains on paper.
ABBank’s and SeaBank’s shareholders also approved a plan to list shares on UpCom in 2018 and on HOSE in 2020. However, no further progress has been made.
Commercial banks have once again kicked off their listing plans. However, it’s too early to say if it will actually occur.
Nguyen Tri Hieu, a respected banking expert, said that listing shares on the bourse is extremely important for banks.
In principle, banks need to have two major factors to ensure listing good business performance shown in financial reports and good stock prices.
Not all banks have both. High bad debt ratios will cause banks to be reluctant to list shares, and besides, stock prices often fluctuate.
Hieu said it would be difficult to find the optimal moment in 2019 for banks to list shares, because the stock market is not stable.
“The VN Index decreased by 8.27 points, or 0.92 percent of value, to 892 points at the last trading session of 2018. VN30, the index representing the group of 30 shares with biggest capitalisation value and liquidity on the HOSE, also fell by 10.46 points.”
