The World Bank’s International Finance Corp. (IFC) is seeking a buyer for its stake in Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry & Trade (VietinBank), according to the information from Bloomberg.
IFC now holds eight per cent stake of VietinBank since its first investment in the bank in 2011 when it spent $128 million on purchasing about ten per cent of shares. During its investment period, IFC also provided a $125 million loan to supplement VietinBank's operating capital.
After seven years, the market value of this investment is estimated at over VND8,000 billion (US$350 million), calculated on the value of VietinBank which is VND102 trillion ($4.4 billion), based on closing price of its shares on September 20.
VietinBank is currently Vietnam's third-largest lender by market value after Vietcombank at VND227 trillion ($10 billion) and BIDV at VND120 trillion ($5.2 billion).
Besides IFC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. also bought nearly 20 percent stake in VietinBank for $742 million in 2013 and other foreign investors own the rest of two per cent, filling 30 per cent - a regulated room for foreigners in a Vietnamese bank.
Foreign buyers announced at least $2.2 billion of investments in Vietnamese banks since the beginning of 2010, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
IFC's divestment from VietinBank may be an opportunity for other foreign investors who are interested in Vietnam's banking sector. VietinBank's largest shareholder now is the State Bank of Vietnam owning nearly 65 per cent.
Last year, VietinBank achieved over nearly $400 million pre-tax profit and only in the first half of this year, the figure was nearly $230 million.
